Even In Death
by Albus.P.W.B.Dumbledore1891
Summary: The meeting and development in the relation of Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall as they progress from students to co-fighters to best friends to lovers for This is not just romance, it is a very long story of friendship, adventure/drama/humor/romance and whatever else you can ask for
1. Chapter 1

Declaimer:I do not own Harry Potter characters

Author's Notes: Do review, if you like the starting of the story only then I will continue, do you think I should?

_Waiting_

Minerva Athena McGonagall was turning eleven tomorrow. Eleven years of her life had passed through pure hell. Now as she lay on her bed staring at her mother's diary, the only memento of her mother, she felt anger bubble through her. Her mother and father had died in a war leaving her to her father's only relatives, her uncle and aunt. Minerva's mother had been a witch and father a muggle making her a half blood. She always thought her uncle should have been the one to tell her when she was younger and had not finished the diary, but now that she had, she knew better.

Minerva's mother had fallen in love with her father at an early age of fifteen but had never regretted it ever in her life. Athena, her mother had always been a strong woman so she had told her boyfriend about her being a witch the moment she had realized he was going to tell her how he felt for her, never wanting to start the relation her heart yearned for with lies. Minerva's father though shocked at first had accepted her mother wholeheartedly and had even teased her sometimes saying he had always thought of her as a magical woman. Athena had always been a happy woman until the night, a group of wizards calling themselves the followers of Grindelwald had ordered her to join them taking her husband a hostage. Always a woman of values, she had bluntly refused. They had tortured her and even Minerva's father in front of Athena's eyes to make her concede but he had urged his wife on to keep her will which she had. The wizards had thrown Harold, Minerva's father from a cliff. Harold had miraculously survived long enough to name their new born daughter and hand her guardianship to his relatives till the time she came of age before passing away. Her mother had been killed soon after.

Minerva would never have found all this out if not for a whole lot of effort from her mother who had somehow connected herself so well to her diary that it not only recorded all her living moments but also was indestructible, the attempts at which had been innumerable, mostly from her uncle. At a very small age Minerva had the maturity and the thinking capability of an adult. Tall for her age, thick raven black hair cascaded down her back till a little above her knees, deep green eyes that were living proofs of her inner maturity and her mother's high cheek bones, she would have looked a beauty if allowed. Unable to cut her hair short which seemed to grow with every cut, her uncle had ordered she always keep it tied in a bun above her head and keep the smile off her face as much as she could. In his words he did not want another whore in the family referring the first to her mother whom her uncle insisted on calling that ever since he had learned she was a witch. He had never liked her and this new news gave him an opportunity to call her whatever he liked regardless in front of whom. This was in fact the reason of her present anger.

Minerva had prepared supper for the whole family singlehandedly as usual thanks to her keen sense of magic that allowed her to do it even wand less flawlessly. Just as they were finishing the lunch, her aunt had mentioned the shopping list for next day which had to contain some of her requirements as well at which her uncle had cursed like mad."If that whore had not married my brother, and if that fool of my brother had not handed down this little wimp to me it would have saved me my hard earned money" he had shouted at the top of his lungs till he had noticed the look on Minerva's face. Beautiful though she was, that look could have called a god to standstill live alone her uncle. Rest of supper had proceeded peacefully and Minerva had returned to the solitude of her rooms after cleaning up. Though she was angry, the thought of her upcoming birthday brought a tiny smile on her face. She knew the importance of this year. This year she could go off to the school her mother went to and return only when she had to. She would not have to live with these people for much longer. Having regained her composure fast, something that she was an expert at, Minerva turned through the pages of her diary unmindfully until she fell asleep on it.

The morning of 14th July dawned bright and sunny with puffs of cloud in the sky but for Minerva, there could never have ever been a more beautiful day even if it had been the dullest. Today she turned eleven and this was it. She would not have to endure this hell much longer. Hogwarts had always seemed alluring in her mother's diary. She wondered how it would feel to be there to have different classes and maybe friends. Minerva had always been a lonely child; the reason was not that she was not friendly, but rather that she was never allowed to meet children her age outside school. Even in school her teachers had been warned against allowing her with anybody. Her uncle and aunt had feared that her real nature would become known to others. They could not bear the thought of another witch related to their family. Although they never allowed Minerva to have what she wanted, however small it might be, they had discussed her going to Hogwarts and agreed more than cheerfully that she should go. As it is that would free them the reason to always worry about their friends getting to know her and her mother had written that once in Hogwarts, whatever expenses she had would be fulfilled from her account in a bank for wizards which meant her uncle would not have to spend another penny on her.

Minerva eagerly opened her mother's diary. On every of her birthday, new pages were added and these usually contained further instructions her mother had meant to give her or more details about her already told story. Today she opened it to first stumble upon a pocket in its side. Excitedly she put her hand inside to find a key. One look and she knew it was the key to her new vault in Gringots. The rest of that month and half of the next passed uneventfully reading her mother's diary and doing the usual house work until Minerva's letter from Hogwarts arrived. She eagerly read through it even though she knew the lines by heart having read them many times in her mother's diary. Suddenly the idea seemed to sink in; she was going to Hogwarts and that too within mere fifteen days. First day in all eleven years Minerva found it really tough to keep the smile off her face.

The next day her uncle reluctantly allowed her to go to London. Though others would have considered getting lost all alone, little Minerva was pretty used to this. She often went to markets and places to do odds and ends for her uncle and aunt. Although there was no mutual love among them, Minerva knew that they had kept her father's last wish, and did not treat her too badly either except well giving her to do all the work and screaming or isolating her. She actually understood their fear and in some aspects she felt bad for them. They knew how her parents had died also the immense power the wizards and witches hold over them, they would be a fool not to be scared. She knew and understood that all their neighbors would shun them if they found out about her or her mother. Her uncle and aunt belonged here with the muggles; they should not be isolated from their world. And as for herself, she understood that this was definitely not her world, she belonged elsewhere so it felt rather selfish to her to blame her relatives, though she could not help her temper at times.

All these thoughts going on through her mind, little Minerva made her way to her first view of the magical world- to Diagon-ally. The instructions had been very clear both in the letter as well as the diary. So she had no problem at all in finding her way there. Once inside the site in front of her was even more beautiful than she had dared to imagine after reading about the place she could only stare. Collecting herself quickly, she set out to get all her things. Within mid-day she had got everything on her list including except an owl and a wand. Though she had been longing to buy a cat as her mother's diary made that sound whenever agitated, being a practical person she had told herself that owls were more useful. So, she had decided to get herself an owl. Once in the owl emporium, she had fidgeted for quite some time before a small white owl with a few grey spots near its neck caught her fancy. She looked at it lovingly as it ate some kind of sweet given to her by another customer. "I will take her" she declared at long last to the owner of the shop. After paying for her new pet, she made her way to the only shop left on her list-Olivander.

Getting her wand was a different experience altogether. The shop owner Olivander had ranted on at first about her mother and her wand after that had gone on to measure her which had really irritated her very much. After the measurements were taken, Minerva was made to try wand after wand. Some the shopkeeper got out of her hand before even she had properly gripped it, others he told her to wave before taking them away. As they went on trying wand after wand, he did not seem to be satisfied with any of them. "Tricky customer, very tricky" he murmured happily as though it was the best thing in the world. Minerva on the other hand was far from happy. She had been looking forward to buying her wand and here she had tried almost every wand in the shop but none had chosen her. She felt both irritated as well as dejected. "Ah, why don't I try this one, why yes, this might just be it" exclaimed Olivander suddenly bringing out with him a sleek black wand. Minerva felt a pull towards it at once, it was so elegant. She wished fervently that it would choose her.

Looking at her and assessing her, Olivander handed her the wand gingerly. As soon as the wand touched her fingertips and the whole room filled with bright white hue so much so that one had to peer through the light. At this Mr. Olivander looked at her and said softly, "Curious, very curious" but then clapped heartily and gave her the wand. Overcome by her curiosity, Minerva looked at him blinking to see in the dim light after the bright white hue had filled the small shop. "Sorry, but what is so curious?" she asked tentatively. "The wand chooses the wizard Miss McGonagall and no wand ever gives off so much hue without any proper incantation. Over that this wand has been in my shop for eleven years now. After favoring a wizard a little the first year of its life, it never ever chose another wizard. I had stopped offering it at all since the last five years. It is curious that this wand must suddenly choose you after declining magical servitude so long." "Climber holy with phoenix tail feather core, 11 and three quarter inches nice and supple, unyielding. Fantastic for transfiguration work, very good with almost any curse or hex. If used in defense of loved ones almost no wand would give better results." Oddly after having bought her things Minerva could not get rid of the feelings in her heart that the wand had become a part of her and the bird felt more like a friend.

That night she found it very hard to sleep, her mind kept roaming back to her books and specially her wand and her owl whom she had named Eos. After tossing and turning for quite some time she decided to read through her mother's diary. Surprisingly she found two new pages. The first page congratulated her on being enrolled at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry the second part held the instructions and spells required to create a similar diary if ever she wanted one. On the other page were writings that had her crying first time in her life it read

_My dearest child, I know this diary feels like a connection for you to me and all my heart and soul wanted to go on about every detail of my life. But dear, that is not to be. I want you to face your life as it comes, let the surprises about the school you cannot find in the books remain a surprise, I had my own experiences in my life, I do not want you to miss yours while they are in front of you and you are too immersed in this diary to see it. Remember I will always be there with you but this diary will not have new pages again. Only if you need my advice truly and immensely, something you cannot even tell the beautiful friends you will have made at school, open this diary and you will find a blank page to write your problems there. Your answers will be at hand my dear child. Till then I must say goodbye.  
Your Loving mother,  
Athena McGonagall._

It felt to little Minerva as though she had lost her mother all over again. The pain was excruciating. Unable to control herself, she fetched Eos and cried to the little bird till she fell asleep still holding her. When Minerva awoke next morning, her eyes were still sore from crying last night and she found herself almost clutching onto Eos who had fallen asleep sitting there. Gathering herself together, she understood that her mother's words though tough and hard to believe were very true and appropriate. It would not do for her to go on living in her mother's world and ignore hers when it was at the front of her nose. Shaking herself from her revere and grief she set to work on her usual cores.

The days after the fateful end of the diary had been rather interesting for little Minerva. Using her magic had always given her a great deal of free time to usually pursue studies in her muggle school or her mother's diary. These days though she had found other things to entertain herself. Always a diligent reader she had started with all her course books and had finished at a rate almost all of it. She knew almost everything in there now and had even received a few more books from flourish and bolts by owl order. Transfiguration had fast become her favorite book narrowly defeating the second favorite book of hers, Hogwarts, A History. Changing one thing to another was something that intrigued her no end and she was very much keen to understand and perform it properly. The wand maker Olivander had thought she would not have trouble with transfiguration, this thought seemed to lighten her mood for the whole day. Soon it was the last day of august, time had almost flown by.

After the strange but powerful wand had chosen her Minerva found to her amazement that her magic flowed more freely than ever before. The wand seemed to take untold instructions and even her wand less magic had become more powerful so much so that it was almost competition to wand based magic. Minerva felt a strange sense of responsibility come over her when she realized this. She had read in her mother's diary once, _with great power comes greater responsibility._ There was no doubt that her wand was powerful, too much so as it even increased her power. Hence, it also increased her powers and made it an additional responsibility for her. She would have to make sure that she never even unknowingly misused the huge power bestowed upon her and also make sure that her powers remained a secret as it would draw huge attention to her without a doubt.

Knocking on the door of the sitting room, Minerva entered to find her uncle and aunt seated in the sofa as though waiting for her."I will need to go to kings cross station tomorrow to board my train to Hogwarts. Will it be possible for you to take me there?" Minerva felt very awkward asking a favor, something she rarely did. "I thought you were pretty capable to go anywhere without needing an escort", the reply was almost the one she would have expected if her uncle were blind so she rolled her eyes and retorted "I have a heavy trunk and a cage in which to take Eos, what will the neighbors say? I know you fear our kind and it is only natural but I would not want you outraced from your society for me. I will only be under your care six more years. Then you will be free of this burden but till then it is better that you cooperate with me to keep the secret and your position in the society secure." She stomped out of the room before her uncle could make any palpable answer knowing he would cooperate.

The next day as expected Minerva found herself at kings cross station, delivered there by her uncle. She looked round the station in sheer joy. This was the place that would take her to her world permanently, her mother's world. Without hesitation she started to walk towards the barrier between the platforms nine and ten. Having read about it earlier in the diary, it did not scare her, but she felt rather thrilled and closed her eyes in anticipation when she reached the barrier. When she opened them again, her mouth fell open in amazement, her mother had been right, no amount of reading prepared a person for this, the huge red engine standing to take her away to her destiny was worth every second of the waiting of eleven years. Gathering herself together she smiled at the train then nodded at Eos, turning back one last time she made her way onto an empty compartment in the train, off at last.


	2. Chapter 2

Declaimer: I do not own any recognizable harry potter character, they all belong to J.K Rowling

Author's notes: thank you slenderpanda597 for my first review

"Minerva McGonagall!"

Her mother had told her all about the sorting ceremony in her diary so she was more prepared than most first-years. Even knowing what would happen, she was still a bit nervous at the prospect of a wizard's hat being able to see into her thoughts, but she was never one to argue with hundreds of years of tradition.

Making her way to the stool, she took a deep breath and waited as the Deputy Headmaster placed the tattered garment on her head. Her gaze caught the professors whose twinkling eyes were watching her from above his half moon spectacles as he placed the hat on her head. She had stopped breathing for a second when she had first caught his eyes upon entering the room. Despite knowing he would be teaching her, it had been hard for her not to appreciate him as a person. Tall thin with long auburn hair and beard which was equally long, he looked like someone who would take others worries with just one look from those deep blue twinkling eyes and a smile. She greatly anticipated seeing him teach and felt quite sure he would be great at whatever he taught. It was just the aura he gave off. She felt her cheeks warm with his gaze steadily watching her though she could not comprehend why; she had never felt shy with anyone else before. Her thoughts were snapped back to the here and now by a voice inside her head.

_Well, well, well. I see that I have a McGonagall in my presence. I remember sorting your mother. Let's see…Athena was in Ravenclaw. Noble house and worthy of honor but will you fit in there? Now we must choose the correct house for you. If you are ready, I will proceed. _Minerva shifted a bit in the seat as the wise magical object continued.

_I see you have a desire for learning, oh yes. You have read many, many books, most of which were above the recommended reading level for those entering Hogwarts. Very impressive for such a young age. And what's this I see…a sharp wit to add to that. I sense that you would be able to hold your ground in any situation, given your vast command of the language. You would make an excellent addition to Ravenclaw and your mother would be so pleased. But there is more to life than a sharp wit and a love of knowledge._

_Here in your mind, I can see that you are one of the bravest at heart, regardless of your age and experiences in life. You possess an inner strength and a desire to right the wrongs of the world. Those qualities combined would earn you an honored position in Gryffindor. You have never been afraid to speak your mind and the thought of danger does not frighten you as it does most children. You have made your mother proud. But back to your house…such a difficult decision. Let me ponder a moment longer._

The seconds slowly marched by and Minerva could do nothing but wait. She could feel the eyes of every single person on her and it made her uncomfortable to be the center of attention. The quiet humming from the hat did nothing to calm her nerves and the butterflies in her stomach were going mad. After what seemed an eternity, the hat asked a question of her that others might have to think about but she did not hesitate in her answer.

_Tell me, Miss McGonagall, which would give you more pleasure: having an adventure in life or reading about the adventures of others in a book? _Silently, she answered the Sorting Hat without any reservations.

"I would rather have my own adventures and then when I am older, I might write them down for others to read. Does that answer your question?"

_Indeed, indeed. I believe you will be a perfect fit in the house of _"Gryffindor!"

Minerva sat motionless, unsure if the hat had told the entire school of it's' decision or simply her. Upon realizing that a group of students at one of the long tables had started clapping, she jumped from the stool and made her way to join her classmates. It wasn't until later in the evening that she discovered that her Head of House was none other than Professor Dumbledore, the deputy head master who had smiled so kindly at her during the sorting ceremony.

The girls had been given a dormitory of four people each. The other girls with her were Poppy Pomfrey a pretty red head who seemed to care for anyone and everyone, Ronalda Hooch who could not stop talking about everything under the sun although her favorite topic seemed to be Quidich and another golden haired beauty Sally Grandwilight who seemed too homesick to think of anything at present. Minerva surveyed them critically and decided she liked all of them even the hair brained Sally. She smiled at Ronalda thinking they would get along rather well as she like her loved Quidich. The other girls seemed to have been doing the same thing. They laughed when their eyes caught each other and the environment of the room became even more homely. Bidding each other goodnight they fell onto their new beds for their first night in the castle that would grow to become their home.

Always an early riser, Minerva had been the first to be awake the next morning followed by Poppy. Sally had woken up much later though in time to get ready and head to breakfast without getting late their first day. Ronalda though, was another story altogether. Minerva and Poppy had been ready for quite some time, going through their time tables when they had noticed that Ronalda was not up even then. They hurried back to their dormitory to find the girl in deep sleep. The two girls looked at each other and smiled. Shaking her head Minerva bent over the sleeping girl and shook her shoulder gently."Get up Ronalda, its already late!" she exclaimed when Ronalda did not even give any sign that she had heard her. Well, no other option thought Minerva, smiling she pointed her wand at the bed and whispered _augmenti! _At once a jet of water escaped and hit the sleeping girl who sat up sputtering. She smiled cheekily and looked at Poppy who she found was gaping at her with her mouth wide open."What is it Poppy? Have I grown wings that I do not notice?" she asked rather awkward with being stared at."No...It's just…well…it's a spell much higher our level and we haven't even started classes" stammered the faltered girl. "Oh well its nothing, I got it off a book, thought I'd try it. Shall we get Ro ready?" she added in an attempt to get the flashlight off herself. Thankfully she succeeded her antiques were forgotten in a hurry as they helped Ronalda get ready for breakfast before they had to be punished the first day at school.

As they hurriedly made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast, she was so preoccupied that she failed to notice the tall, auburn haired man rounding the corner until it was too late. Crashing into her Head of House, Minerva's cheeks flushed as she looked at her quivering friends. She quickly offered an apology and an explanation. "Professor Dumbledore! I am so very sorry. We were in a rush to get to breakfast and I was attempting to memorize my schedule of classes for today. I wasn't looking where I was going and…" Holding up a hand to silence the flustered girl, Minerva noticed a curling of his mouth into a smile. She did not expect him to yell at her, as she felt some of the other professors might have done judging by his earlier jovial approach, but she didn't anticipate him making a joke from it either."Miss McGonagall, it was an accident and I wish all of our students were as eager to jump into their studies. I am sure you all will have a wonderful year and I look forward to seeing all of you in class later this morning. I trust you will also embrace your extracurricular activities with the same enthusiasm as you do your classes", he said his eyes twinkling at Minerva and Ronalda. "Now, would you care to walk with me to the Great Hall for breakfast?"

Surveying him momentarily, she had a hard time finding her voice. All sorts of feelings were running through her mind and her knees seemed to have gone weak. She had been excited, nervous, flustered, and embarrassed all at the same time and she was sure that he would notice the pink hue in her cheeks. Poppy saved her the embarrassment and replied "We would love to Sir". Taking a deep steadying breath she relaxed her face and produced a broad smile. After testing her voice slightly, she accompanied him and her friends to breakfast. When they reached the students door, they turned to their head of house who was smiling down at them. Minerva found that she had lost her voice yet again. Poppy spoke for them once again "Thank you Sir." Nodding at the three of them, he bestowed a last smile at them before heading to the teacher's entry. They looked after him for a moment before staring at each other. Then shaking their heads in unison made their way to the Great Hall.

Their first day at the castle was going eventful. After their accidental collision with their head of house the trio had made their way to breakfast then grabbing a quick breakfast as they were late thanks to Ronalda. Then they had made their way to the dungeons for their first class-potions. The teacher had been infuriating to say the least. He had welcomed the students cordially and then had set them to do a potion to test their skills at it. Minerva had found to her gratification that she was not at all bad at it though it had been her worst fear. She had indeed rather narrowly beaten a Ravenclaw student Jeff Connors at making the best potion. The boy had thrown her a look of deep loathing. This had disturbed her for quite some time until she had noticed her teacher throwing appreciative yet calculating looks at her. It had given her a creepy feeling as though a rather large spider was eying a juicy fly and wondering whether to go after it or not. Their next class had been eventful one. Charms were taught by a very tiny and very jolly professor, professor Filtwick. Professor Filtwick had welcomed all of them to his class and had taught them how to make objects fly. Minerva, Jeff, Poppy, Ronalda and another boy Terry Boots again from Ravenclaw had been able to make their feathers fly. The tiny professor Filtwick had been very glad and had awarded all of them ten house points each. Then they had had their defense against dark arts class. The first class had been given to driving it to the head of the students as to how important it was and why.

Despite giving the other classes their full attention, Minerva had been waiting with bated breath for the class before lunch, transfiguration; her favorite subject after having read all their course books. She, Poppy and Ro, short for Ronalda had soon become inseparable. After a lot of coaxing on Minerva's part they found themselves seated at the very front of the class waiting for their transfiguration professor to make his appearance. Minerva looked towards the door many times eager to find out who their transfiguration Professor was. Suddenly the door opened and in walked their head of house and deputy head master Professor Dumbledore. Minerva's jaw almost dropped to the floor. It seemed she had found another reason to love transfiguration. "Let me introduce myself", he said "Albus Perceivial Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, transfiguration professor, head of Gryffindor house and deputy headmaster of Hogwarts." He had walked the length of the class while talking and now looked down at Minerva with a raised eyebrow and a smile. Too late she realized she had been gaping at her professor. Turning a deep shade of red she averted her gaze and looked down at her papers heartily wishing she had chosen a desk towards the end of the classroom.

Her discomfort did not last long though. As soon as professor Dumbledore started teaching everyone in the class had eyes and ears only for him. He started class by going around the room and changing various inanimate objects into other things, some moveable, some motionless. After their curiosities were peaked, he began to explain the rudimentary skills necessary in performing such feats of magic. Then he had given each of them a few toothpicks and told them to try to turn it into needles. All of them had set to work diligently. After quite some time Jeff had raised his hand to tell the professor that he had done it, his toothpick had turned all silvery and pointed. Professor Dumbledore had been very lavish with his praise, and for no reason Minerva had suddenly found herself focusing even more. After a few tries she had turned her toothpick to a complete needle. Even though she had wanted to impress Professor Dumbledore a few minutes back, being the centre of his attention gave her such a giddy feeling that she decided she would not call his attention.

As it were, Ro was having a great trouble with her toothpick. So, she bent over to ask Minerva for her help. She first looked at Minerva's table and then looked at her face aghast. After quite a time she blinked then suddenly shouted "WOW" at the top of her voice. Minerva who had been frantically trying to control her friend put her face into her hands. Professor Dumbledore sensing something was amiss made his way to her desk. He was rewarded with a sight that made him beam with pride. Minerva had turned all her toothpicks into needles, perfect needles with even a place to put the thread through. "Brilliant Miss McGonagall" he chimed in a pleased voice. Minerva looked up to find him smiling at her in pride and happiness. She could not help but beam back at him while turning red for the second time that day."Twenty points to Gryffindor" he declared to the other students while still smiling at her. When he turned away Minerva almost let out a cry of protest grabbing the end of the table at the last moment and scraping her hands in the process. Soon afterwards the class was dismissed with homework of 2 foot long essay on the day's class. Minerva looked at her professor a last time before leaving and was happy to see him smiling at her which she returned with interest.

That night when all of them had retired to the dormitory Minerva gazed at the starry sky outside. She had found the rest of the day after transfiguration class very distracting. Her mind had kept wandering back to the class, how they had stared at the door, how Professor Dumbledore had introduced himself, how he had smiled when Jeff had succeeded and how he had almost burst with pride when he had seen her work. A tiny smile crept up to her lips as she remembered he had kept one of the needles to himself before returning the rest to the work cupboard. She knew he would have reacted the same way if it had been any other Gryffindor doing it at he was proud of his cubs, but she could not help but be glad that it had been her. "Hey Min get into bed, you will catch a cold in that night dress, over that its already late." Minerva looked at poppy and shook her head, "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Min?" she ran her hand absentmindedly through her hair hurting the grazed hand. "Ouch!" the exclamation had escaped her lips before she could stop it. Poppy was on it in a blink "What happened Min show me please" she took her hand in her own and examined it thoroughly. Then she pointed her wand at her hand and murmured something. The graze healed itself at once. It was Minerva who stared at her friend this time. "Wow that was brilliant! Where did you learn it Poppy? You really are incredible!" Poppy blushed at her compliment and replied timidly, "I did not learn it, I invented it. And thanks, but I am only good at these healing charms you know" she had added to hide her embarrassment. "You have a great talent Poppy and that you have invented these spells make it even better. Wow" Poppy smiled good-naturedly at her as the two friends flopped down onto their beds.

The girls soon found out for themselves, life at Hogwarts could never be dull and when it turned even a bit so, a lot more added homework gave them no time to think about it. Transfiguration had soon become the life force of Minerva's life, not only for the subject but also for the teacher. Minerva found to her astonishment, after all the incidents in her first class, she preferred to sit in the front bench in that class. She had soon got used to being not only the best student in the class but also Dumbledore's favorite student as claimed by many. The amount she smiled in each of his classes was far more than she had smiled in her whole life. Though she did not quite comprehend her immense attachment to her transfiguration professor, she knew one thing for certain; he had fast become one of the most important person in her life. She sometimes sat back after class talking to him and telling him about her day, sometimes helping him with his books, it seemed to Minerva, she would do almost anything for him for reasons she could not fathom.

Potions were exactly the opposite. Almost from the end of the first week, Minerva did her best to find herself a seat at the farthest corner in the dungeons and was disappointed to find that the potions master followed her even there. Though her potion making skills were pretty good, she did not understand this unexpected attention from the Professor as despite being ten times as good at transfiguration and Professor Dumbledore being very friendly with her, even he never bestowed her with this much attention. The last straw came when one day while leaving the class with her friends, she heard Professor Slughorn call her."Miss McGonagall, I would be very honored and glad if you would like to attend the small party I am throwing this Saturday at my private quarters with a few more students I have personally invited." He smiled at her as though having given her a great honor at inviting her. Minerva was at a loss as to how to respond. She did not like parties, and over that one with Professor Slughorn seemed even less inviting. She decided that truth was the only thing that could help her. "Professor thank you for your kindness in inviting me", she started tentatively, "but, I do not really like parties and over that I have a lot of homework to finish. If you will please excuse me this time, I am really sorry." she added seeing the confused expression on Professor Slughorn face. Not waiting for his reply or further questioning, she walked out of the dungeons.

Suddenly she found herself looking at a bundle of crimson robes, the likes that professor Dumbledore seemed to prefer. Her heart dropped at the sight; he seemed to be quivering all over and it was all Minerva could to to not rush to him. Instead she stepped cautiously to his side and shook his shoulders gently. "Professor! Professor Dumbledore, it's you isn't it?" she asked gently. When he looked up she was aghast to find tears streaming down his eyes. She opened her mouth and closed it again, the shock of the moment having robbed her of her voice. Suddenly she noticed, his lips were parted in the biggest smile she had seen yet. She let out an audible sigh of relief when realization dawned on her. He had been laughing so hard that he had bent over and there were tears running down in face.

Shaking her head in exasperation at the eccentricities of her favorite professor she cast a silencing charm and disillusioned them both quick as lightning. Then she crouched down beside him and allowed herself a small smile before asking, "Professor what do you think you are doing? If anyone else found you like that they would think you are mad! What makes you laugh so much, that too here where any student could find you?" Professor Dumbledore looked at her his eyes twinkling merrily like two stars but did not answer. Minerva understood in a moment. First casting a calming and sobering charm on her beloved professor she lifted her silencing charm. He chuckled softly before answering, his eyes still twinkling with mirth "Miss McGonagall, I was laughing at the way you snubbed professor Slughorn. That invitation has a must answer of yes, but you unknowingly turned him down. Oh the look on his face!" he exclaimed and seemed ready to go into another fit of laughter though thankfully her charms seemed to hold and he did not. He smiled at her and then turning about took in his surroundings. The potion's class was just over and students were trooping out though none of them notices the duo crouched on the floor.

Understanding the situation as quickly that only he could, he turned to her and smiled. She grinned back cheekily and replied," I could not let them see you in that state. When I saw you, I thought you were crying! I was so shocked and…well…" she stammered not being able to say clearly as to how concerned she had been. Dumbledore though seemed to have no problem in understanding her mind. He smiled at her with affection and said, "There is no need for an explanation Miss McGonagall, I understand and it was really kind of you. Now I think it is better for both of us if we get away from this place before someone stumbles over us, I do not think the charm you cast is strong enough to make us invisible, though it is strong enough to help us hide as you can very well see" he added kindly seeing Minerva's crestfallen face "Disillusionment charms are far above your curriculum Miss McGonagall and you cast it almost to the point of making us invisible, if you had made us completely invisible, it would have been a miracle." Minerva's face lit up at once at his compliment.

She got up quickly and then helped her professor up, who was still quivering with suppressed mirth. Silently the duo made their way to the transfiguration room. "I should apologize to him, you know, but I will do it tomorrow so that the party is over by then. What do you think professor?" she looked up expectantly at Professor Dumbledore. "Well, I could not agree more" he replied smiling, and then started to make his way into the staffroom. "Hey wait!" Minerva called suddenly. "Professor may be you forgot, you are still disillusioned, even though not invisible. What do you think the other professors will say if you walked in like this? Here let me," she raised her wand and removed the charms on each of them then added with a frown before he could turn again "You had better deliver me to the charms classroom. Professor Filtwick won't be very happy if I am late without a reason to give as I can hardly say the truth." She stared at him expectantly. Understanding dawned on him yet again and he smiled good-naturedly. "Of course my dear, I should have offered it myself, after all you are late because of helping an old man like myself" saying so he started walking. Minerva scowled at his back before joining him in his stride. "Rubbish, who are you calling old Professor? Yourself? I hardly think so. I think you are about forty aren't you? How does that make you old?" she retorted without thinking. Professor Dumbledore chuckled and raised his hands in defeat "Point made!" he laughed "I should never have called myself old, my sincere apologies. Strangely though, your guess at my age was pretty close to the mark, unlike other people who prefer referring to me on my late twenties with loads of flattery of course." Minerva snorted "You are pretty young professor though calling you in your late twenties is a bit exaggeration as it is, it's your age that adds to your aura. And my guess is right as I was just pointing out to you what was in front of your nose not trying to flatter you." She looked up at him and added "And oh yes, apology accepted" with a small smile. Dumbledore smiled at her and then said "Ah, I see we have to end our interesting conversation. Your chars classroom has arrived Miss McGonagall", saying he winked at her then turned and left murmuring a quick thanks once again. Minerva shook her head to herself as she made her way to a seat in the class.

That night as Minerva readied herself for bed, she could not help but smile at the incidents of the day. Thinking of it now though she could not understand how she had got the courage to speak to her professor the way she had. It had to be a thing with her being a Gryffindor, too courageous for her own good."Penny for your thoughts!" shouted Ronalda. "Ro! They were worth your penny you know" Minerva retorted having been drawn unkindly from her musing by her too energetic friend. "what were you thinking? We did not even have transfiguration class today. What are you moping about then?" she asked ignoring Minerva's outraged face. "I was just thinking about my day. What makes you think I was moping? And what does transfiguration class got to do with all this?" she asked still glaring at one of her closest friends while the other namely Poppy sat on her bed watching the two with interest.

"Firstly, Miss McGonagall, you were moping, secondly, what is it in your day that you have to think about? We have been working like donkeys. And thirdly, every day we have transfiguration, you spend your bedtime moping, which we guess is due to too much knowledge crammed into your head during the class and lastly do not glare at me" Ronalda replied in one breath. Minerva opened her mouth to protest then closed it. Then the three of them burst out laughing. "Oh, well I was moping due to something that happened today- don't ask me what I am not in a liberty to repeat it." She added the last part quickly knowing her friends curiosity. Shaking their heads at each other, the three girls went off to sleep.

The days at Hogwarts seemed to fly by soon winter holidays had passed which Minerva and thankfully both her friends stayed at the castle. It was the most enjoyable Christmas in her whole life. Minerva had become almost instantly the star pupil of Dumbledore. Even other teachers who got excellent results off her in their own subjects could not stop praising her transfiguration skills. She soon understood that she was a topic of gossip in the staffrooms. This though did not bother her rather made her happier to think that professor Dumbledore had noticed her enough to talk about her to the other teachers. It was soon time to depart for the summer holidays. To Minerva it seemed she was leaving her home. Hogwarts had become closer to her than she could have fathomed. With one last look towards her loving home, she stepped sadly onto the train waiting to take her to a place where she did not belong.


	3. Chapter 3

Declaimer: As usual, I do not own them

Author's Notes:Slenderpanda597 I tried to correct the spellings,thanks for your reviews  
thank you for your reviews everyone 3

Minerva had returned happily to her home after a month of solitude at her uncle's place. Second year had begun with a lot more vigor. There was a new staff member Gilderoy Lockhart their new defense against dark arts professor who smiled at them as though he were trying very hard to show all his teeth. Minerva looked at him in disgust then she suddenly caught the eye of her favorite professor whose eyes seemed to twinkle at the sight of her outraged face. She could not help but smile back at him, her giddy feelings when looking at him had not taken their leave in the holidays it seemed. After a while she averted her gaze and joined her friends in the feast of the year.

When Minerva had thought the new professor disgusted her the first day, when she attended his first class, she felt pure loathing for him. He had caught her getting out of the library, clearly having heard about her from the rest of the staff, he had tried to make himself friendly in his words, get a bit too close in hers. He had insisted upon walking her to the classroom as it was his lesson. They had reached Lockhart's classroom and she headed for a seat at the very back of the class, where she busied herself with piling all seven of Lockhart's books in front of her, so that he could avoid looking at the real thing. The rest of the class came clattering in, and Rolanda and Poppy sat down on either side of Minerva. "You could've fried an egg on your face" said Rolanda smiling at her disconcerted friend.

"Shut up," snapped Minerva. The last thing she needed was for Lockhart to hear the idiot and come bounding up to give more attention than required. "If you have to know that stupid oaf tried to get a bit too familiar with me when I was getting out of the library. Calling me Minerva instead of Miss McGonagall, holding out his hand for me to take and insisting on walking me to his class all the while commenting on my transfigurations and how he would have made a much better teacher than Dumbledore. The hell he would have, he isn't worthy to wipe the grime off Dumbledore's shoes!" Rolanda stared dumbstruck at her friend; she was not one for insulting teachers. The new professor seemed to have made his way under her skin. Poppy stared at Minerva in reproach, "He is just friendly Min, ok I agree Dumbledore is the best transfiguration teacher we could have but he might not be too bad- or maybe he would" poppy backtracked seeing the killer look on her friend's face. Minerva scowled at her best friend and wondered what the girls found so attractive in this silly cow. Now she thought of it almost all of them were staring coyly at him.

When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Sally Grandwilight's copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front. "Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming-Smile Award—but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly. Minerva was close to throwing up. "I see you've all bought a complete set of my books—well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in—"

When he had handed out the test papers he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes—start—now!" Minerva rolled her eyes and looked down at her paper and read:

1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color? 2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition? 3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?

On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:

54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class.

"Tut, tut—hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year with the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully—I clearly state in Chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples—though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Fire whisky!"

He gave them another roguish wink. Rolanda was now staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on her face; Jeff Connors and Terry Boot, who were sitting in front, were shaking with silent laughter. Poppy, on the other hand, was listening to Lockhart with rapt attention and gave a start when he mentioned her name. "...but Miss Poppy Pomfrey knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions—good girl! In fact"—he flipped her paper over—"full marks! Where is Miss Poppy Pomfrey?" Poppy raised a trembling hand. "Excellent!" beamed Lockhart. "Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so—to business—"

He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it. "Now—be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm." In spite of herself, Minerva leaned around her pile of books for a better look at the cage. Lockhart placed a hand on the cover. Jeff and Terry had stopped laughing now. Sally was cowering in her front row seat. "I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice. "It might provoke them." As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover. "Yes," he said dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies. " Jeff Connors couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.

"Yes?" He smiled at Jeff. "Well, they're not—they're not very—dangerous, are they?" Jeff choked. "Don't be so sure!" said Lockhart, waggling a finger annoyingly at Jeff. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!" The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making bizarre faces at the people nearest them. "Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage. It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them seized Sally by the ears and lifted her into the air. Several shot straight through the window, showering the back row with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging rhino. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up-ended the waste basket, grabbed bags and books and threw them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks and Sally was swinging from the iron chandelier in the ceiling.

"Come on now—round them up, round them up, they're only pixies," Lockhart shouted. He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" It had absolutely no effect; one of the pixies seized his wand and threw it out of the window, too. Lockhart gulped and dived under his own desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Sally, who fell a second later as the chandelier gave way. The bell rang and there was a mad rush toward the exit. In the relative calm that followed, Lockhart straightened up, caught sight of Minerva, Rolanda, and Poppy, who were almost at the door, and said, "Well, I'll ask you three to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." He swept past them and shut the door quickly behind him. "Can you believe him?" roared Minerva as one of the remaining pixies bit Rolanda painfully on the ear. "He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," said Poppy, while Minerva ran about immobilizing all the pixies at once with a clever Freezing Charm and stuffing them back into their cage.

"Hands on? " said Minerva, who was trying to grab the last pixie dancing out of reach with its tongue out. "Poppy, he didn't have a clue what he was doing—" "Rubbish," said Poppy. "You've read his books—look at all those amazing things he's done—" "He says he's done," Rolanda muttered. Having caught the last pixie at last, the three of them made their way out of the room. Minerva and Rolanda were still muttering under their breath while Poppy tried in vain to pacify her irate friends. Turning round the corner they ran into a tall thin person again, not even looking up Minerva murmured "Sorry Professor Dumbledore". "Ah, I see I am still the only one lucky to bump into you pretty ladies so that you do not even have to look to know who you have crashed into to know my identity." He exclaimed with a smile.

Minerva returned his smile with a small wane one of her own as she looked up to his face and felt much better at once. They started to get away when professor Dumbledore called out "Miss McGonagall, a word please" the tone of his voice did not seem jovial as always, so Minerva made her way over to him while telling her friends to go on feeling rather uneasy. "Miss McGonagall, even though I appreciate your high regards for me, I would rather you did not tell people they are not worth wiping the grime off my feet you know, I prefer not to be the topic of gossip." He stated staring at her straight in the eye. Minerva blanched at the revelation that the word had reached Professor Lockhart's ears. She collected herself and replied evenly "I am sorry professor if I am being rude but I would rather Professor Lockhart did not insult you in front of the whole class and if he does even if you dock fifty points off me every time I do it I will do it again. You are the best transfiguration professor we could ever have and we are lucky you like to teach us, as for Professor Lockhart I could not care less as to what he thought." Professor Dumbledore tried to say something; he opened his mouth once then closed it again before saying "Thank you Miss McGonagall. It seems the unlucky Professor has already managed to get under your skin!" he laughed suddenly lighting the atmosphere. Minerva looked up at him with a smile then turned and made away to her next class her mood much better from the sudden encounter.

They had barely set foot in the cool entrance hall when a voice rang out, "There you are, McGonagall." Professor Slughorn was walking toward them, looking stern. "You will do your detentions this evening." "What for Professor?" said Rolanda, suddenly dumbfounded Minerva hardly ever lost house points let alone a detention? "You, McGonagall, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail, I know you told the truth I understand-" said Professor Slughorn even before she could retort "But he is kind of a touch me not so, well, we teachers can't help it. Although he said he would not dock points as you were showing loyalty to your professors, something he looks forward to earn as well", he smiled wanly at her knowing it was useless trying on Lockhart's part. "Oh no—Professor, can't I go and do whatever the caretaker punishes students in detention with?" said Minerva desperately. "Certainly not," said Professor Slughorn, raising his eyebrows. "Professor Lockhart requested you particularly do this detention, getting to know each other he said. Eight o'clock sharp."

Minerva slouched into the Great Hall in states of deepest gloom, Poppy and Rolanda behind her, wearing a shocked expression. Minerva didn't enjoy her dinner at all."I'd swap detention with the caretaker anytime," said Minerva hollowly. "You don't even know what it is! He usually hangs students by their wrists, not at all enjoyable Min" Ro tried in vain to calm her. Minerva seemed to have some gut instincts that told her this was not going to end well. Saturday afternoon seemed to melt away, and in what seemed like no time, it was five minutes to eight, and Minerva was dragging her feet along the second-floor corridor to Lockhart's office. She gritted her teeth and knocked. The door flew open at once. Lockhart beamed down at her.

"Ah, here's the beautiful lady!" he said. "Come in, Minerva, come in." Shining brightly on the walls by the light of many candles were countless framed photographs of Lockhart. He had even signed a few of them. Another large pile lay on his desk. "You can address the envelopes!" Lockhart told Minerva, as though this was a huge treat. "This first ones to Gladys Gudgeon, bless her—huge fan of mine—" The minutes snailed by. Minerva let Lockhart's voice wash over her, occasionally saying, "Hmm" and "Right" and "Yeah."Now and then she caught a phrase like, "Fame's a fickle friend, Minerva," or "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that." The candles burned lower and lower, making the light dance over the many moving faces of Lockhart watching her. Minerva moved her aching hand over what felt like the thousandth envelope, writing out Veronica Smethley's address.

It must be nearly time to leave, Minerva thought miserably, please let it be nearly time...And then she heard something—something quite apart from the spitting of the dying candles and Lockhart's prattle about his fans. Lockhart had gotten up from his desk and was now standing just behind Minerva. "Come... come to me... let me relax you." Saying he touched her shoulders and started to massage them. Minerva was up in a jiffy. "I think I have served my detentions Professor?" She asked in a voice barely audible forcing her voice to speak when she felt like she had lost it altogether. "Sorry?" said Lockhart, looking puzzled. "Great Scott—look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours! I'd never have believed it—the time's flown, hasn't it?" Minerva didn't answer. She was straining to stay still and behave rather than slap the man in front of her. Feeling dazed, Minerva left not daring to breathe before she was out of the room.

First time after crying over the diary Minerva cried again, dashing through the corridors, she did not even look where she was going except that she wanted to get as far away from Lockhart as possible. She was running so blindly and so fast that she did not even notice the figure of Albus Dumbledore before she bumped bodily into him throwing both of them onto the floor one atop another. "Sor-ry Pro-fess-sir, very sor-ry" ,shuttered Minerva while trying to get up from over Dumbledore "Hush, don't Minerva it is all right. Here let me help you" Professor Dumbledore held out his hand and allowed Minerva to get up holding it. Then he pulled himself up from the floor and peered at her. "Minerva, what is the matter my dear? You seem devastated" Minerva would not have told what had happened to even her best friends, but standing there looking at Dumbledore's eyes that were looking at her so fondly and caringly, she told him everything that had passed in her detention.

When she looked up, she could hardly recognize the benign and loving professor she had come to know. On his face was such rage and he was emanating such power that it was very hard to keep looking at him. "He tried to molest you?" the voice in which he spoke was low but it made a shiver run down her spine. She nodded through her tears. Then not trusting herself she closed the gap between them and embraced Dumbledore, drawing comfort from the fact that he was moved to such rage because someone had harassed her. Dumbledore had stiffened at first feeling that the girl would shy away from the touch of any male person at the moment but when she had held onto him he had understood the deep trust she had for him. He held her to himself rubbing her back, soothing her all the time gaining a control over his own temper which had so uncharacteristically come to the surface, making him want to see the end of Lockhart at that very moment. The embrace was something both of them needed at the moment he thought, he to control his rage and she to get over what had passed.

Moments later, Minerva gained consciousness to the fact the she was clinging to her transfiguration professor on a corridor anyone could come by. She withdrew from the embrace at once and tried to apologize, though it was very hard given the fact she was the least bit sorry. The embrace had given her the support she had needed. "I am sorry-" but Dumbledore cut her off before she could say further, "my dear, we both needed it, you needed the comfort of the arms of someone you trusted with yourself and I needed to get my temper under control to not wreck havoc on our dearest professor" he smiled down and her" and I can cast a disillusionment charm strong enough to make us both invisible" he added smiling.

Minerva smiled back at him merrily remembering her first year. "Professor there is no need for you to tell Professor Lockhart anything at present. He already has qualms for me speaking up for you, we don't want it to get worse, as for more detentions-""You will have no more detentions with him my dear, I can at least promise you that." He finished before her. "Now, let me escort you back to your dormitory, I will remove the spell once we reach there. I am sure you do not want to draw more attention to yourself. By the way, I think it would help if you get whatever happened out of your system, talking to friends help." "Thank you professor but I have already spoken about it and I do not think I can speak to anyone else about it. Thank you sir, for everything" she smiled up at him feeling no burden at all. "The pleasure was all mine Miss McGonagall, good night!" he replied, returning her smile in greater measure before lifting the charm and departing.

The months after the detention seemed to pass swiftly. Since the disastrous episode of the pixies, Professor Lockhart had not brought live creatures to class. Instead, he read passages from his books to them, and sometimes reenacted some of the more dramatic bits. He usually picked Minerva to help him with these reconstructions; so far, Minerva had been forced to play along with Lockhart as he had gone about and had cured a person of a Babbling Curse, a yeti with a head cold, and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything except lettuce since Lockhart had dealt with him. Minerva was hauled to the front of the class during their very next Defense against the Dark Arts lesson so that she would try to haul him off a man being played by Jeff and then he would show how he cured them both. After trying in vain to haul him off by his arms, Minerva understood his motive of being drawn back by his shoulders which would bring Minerva too much closer proximity. Unable to stand humiliation any longer she wiped out her wand and in a flash Lockhart was pulled off Jeff. The whole class was staring at Minerva. The girls looked at her as though she were insane not to try to get closer to Lockhart, the guys with awestruck and impressed expressions, Lockhart incredulously.

Then she saw his eyes snap back to focus, and knew what was coming. "I am sorry Miss McGonagall, but I have to give you detention. Eight O' clock again, my office, will it be convenient?" "It would not be convenient professor, why don't we serve detention in the staff room?" it was clear from the look on his face that he had not expected a reply, calculating he looked at her again and smiled. "I will spare this little for my favorite student. The staff room it is then." Minerva was too shocked to believe he had agreed she barely nodded. She could not fathom why he had agreed on the staffroom, she was pretty sure there were reasons she did not know. Rolanda and Poppy looked at her meekly. Not knowing what to say. They after all knew nothing about her first detention. After the class when she entered the transfiguration room, realization dawned on her. She stood at the door as though struck by lightning. Professor Dumbledore was not teaching the class; instead professor Binns their history of magic professor was giving out assignments left back by professor Dumbledore. He would not be at the staff room that night.

Minerva could hardly sit still the whole class and as soon as the bell rang she was the first person out of the door ignoring her friends shouting at her back. She dashed up to the common room and wrote a short letter to Professor Dumbledore, the only solution that had come to her. Then she made a copy of it. Holding the letters securely she ran to the owlery. She went there to meet Eos often but never to post letters. This time Eos was startled to see the mail, but held out her leg obligingly. She held out the letter for Dumbledore to her and then said "Please try to find him Eos, please", the bird blinked once as though in assertive, then nibbling her ear once lovingly, flew out of the owlery. Minerva stood there praying Eos found him in time. Turning she ran along to her next destination, Dumbledore's private office. The office was open to all, though the other rooms were guarded. She had heard as much from a senior year student. Rushing into his office, she tried to think where to put the letter so that he would find it as soon as he returned. Suddenly there was a musical cry.

Turning around Minerva found herself facing a beautiful red bird. She walked over to it and it dipped its head obligingly for her to pet. She ran her hand over the head of the roal bird talking to it, "Where do I put this letter for Professor Dumbledore to find? I need him here tonight you know, Professor Lockhart has given me another detention. God knows what he has in mind. And I did not even check to see if he is here before confirming today's date. Oh God! What will I do now?" Minerva felt like an idiot talking to a bird, but then a thought struck her. "Hey he will of course come and pet you once he returns, let me place the letter with you. Will you allow me please?" she looked up at the bird pleadingly, the bird moved a bit aside in its perch so that she could place her parchment there. Sighing at not knowing what would happen later that evening, Minerva petted the bird one last time before leaving the room. Here in Dumbledore's office, faux the phoenix stared at the parchment for a long time, then taking it in his beak, disappeared in a flash of flames.

Minerva was very much a bag of nerves that evening. Rolanda and Poppy had tried in vain to get her to talk to them but she would not. At last they gave up and attributed it to the fact that she had never ever received detention except during the start of the year and as the rest of the year had gone peacefully, this detention came as a shock to her, hence her over reaction. When the clock chimed five to eight, Minerva looked up with a look of sheer terror on her face. Closing her eyes she composed her features, gritted her teeth and made her way to the staffroom. Knocking once, she peered across the door into the room to find it entirely empty except for Lockhart. Her heart gave a wrench as her last hope vanished. Determined not to show her fears on her face, she walked in with as much show of confidence as she could muster. "Ah, my favorite student", he smiled coming forward to place his hands on her shoulders, when another voice responded from behind, "And mine as well" the sound of the voice made Minerva's heart jump with joy. He was back, either he had received her letter or had come back on his own, but she knew one thing, with Dumbledore, she would go to hell willingly. Turning back in a whirl she beamed at him, controlling herself with all her might from not embracing him again. Confidence now oozed from every orifice of Minerva McGonagall. Turning back when she faced Lockhart, she saw him blanch. The detention went uneventfully. Professor Dumbledore had joined them and even made conversations with Lockhart to spare her the oddity of hearing him speak to himself all the time.

When the detention was over, Dumbledore offered to walk her back to the dormitory. "You made the best decision in your life by sending me that letter Miss McGonagall." He smiled for the first time after his return; she smiled back "Eos found you? Or did you find the letter I left in your office with your bird?" "Oh Eos did not find me, she is your owl I presume?" Minerva nodded and he continued "Faux found me" answering her questioning look he said "Faux, is my phoenix, the bird as you called him, in my office. Though the thing I do not understand is this, how did you coax him to take the letter to me? He usually does not obey anyone other than me." Minerva looked up at her professor rather confused, "I did not tell him to take the letter to you sir, though I am grateful of course, but I just left the letter with him." "Faux took it on his own free will then. Do not be confused Minerva, if I may call you so?" when Minerva nodded with a smile, he continued, "He is a phoenix, a strange bird with a lot of his own mind. If you ask me he had taken a liking to you" he smiled at her his eyes twinkling. "Good night Minerva" saying thus he turned and left for his rooms.

Minerva awoke next morning feeling quite refreshed yet amused as she was being shaken awake by Ro who usually had to be pulled out of bed regularly. "Get up Min we have selection for the Quidditch team today, GET UP! GET UP!" she thundered about the dormitory. Minerva did not need much coaxing. Soon, she was out of bed and ready to head for the field. She had tried for a chaser and Ro for a seeker. Poppy who did not play Quidditch accompanied her friends to boost their confidence. Soon the whole team was up in the air playing and shouting comments. Minerva and Rolanda both made into the team as they were easily the best players. By the time the selection had ended, the team put together was pretty impressive and almost everyone seemed to think wining the match next Wednesday would be an easy task this year. Laughing and joking they made their way back into the castle.

Next few days were as uneventful as could be. Lockhart had done his best to cajole Minerva without grabbing attention to himself again, Jeff the Ravenclaw student a new member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, beater, was seen glaring at Minerva as often as possible and Poppy had read up all the books of Lockhart much to Ro and Minerva's amusement. Dumbledore had been very pleased with Ro and Minerva for getting selected in the team. "Congratulations Minerva, Ro" he had whispered at the dumbstruck girls at the end of one class winking at them and smiling gleefully. "If I did not know better I would think that man has taken after Lockhart" Ro exclaimed with a smile but then noticing the look on Minerva's face back tracked at once "No Min that's not what I meant. I meant he was cute congratulating us like we were his friends unlike Lockhart, whose intentions are pretty clear, no Min I am not saying this to pacify you but even a fool would trust Dumbledore with their life." The last statement had its desired effect as it brought back the smile on Minerva's face at once.

Minerva woke early on Wednesday morning and lay for a while thinking about the coming Quidditch match. She was nervous, mainly at the thought of what Dumbledore would say if Gryffindor lost, but also at the idea of facing another team the first time. She had never wanted to beat any team so badly. After half an hour of lying there with her insides churning, she got up, dressed, and went down to breakfast early, where she found Ro and the rest of the Gryffindor team huddled at the long, empty table, all looking uptight and not speaking much. As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium. It was a muggy sort of day with a hint of thunder in the air. Poppy came hurrying over to wish Minerva and Ro good luck as they entered the locker rooms to get ready for the match. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, and then sat down to listen to the usual pre-match pep talk. "Ravenclaw are a strong team," began their captain. "No point denying it. But we've got better people on our brooms this year. We've trained harder than they have, we've been flying in all weathers—" he smiled at the rueful faces around him "and we're going to make them rue by the end of the day." Chest heaving with emotion, their captain turned to the new players. "It'll be down to you lot, to show them that a player has to have something more than a few years experience." "So no pressure, Min" said Ro, winking at her friend.

As they walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greeted them; mainly cheers, because except Ravenclaw and Slytherin, Hufflepuff was anxious for the Gryffindor as well. The Slytherins in the crowd made their boos and hisses heard, too. Madam Jane, the Quidditch teacher, asked the two captains to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary. "On my whistle," said Madam Jane. "Three... two... one... With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Rolanda flew higher than any of them, squinting around for the Snitch. The Quaffle was immediately taken by Minerva then belted down the pitch before making a neat pass to Alicia Snippet another member of their team. Alicia made her way towards the goals when a budger made its way towards her she dove and was attacked at the same time by the Ravenclaw captain. Quaffle taken he made for the goals but Minerva made for a streak directly at him, giving up the Quaffle he jumped out of her way. Taking possession of the Quaffle again Minerva hit it straight at one of the loops and "GOAL!" half the crowd cheered themselves hoarse as the scoring continued. Minerva to her delight found she and Alicia made an almost unbeatable pair.

Way up above them, Rolanda was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of her and their captain's game plan."Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," their captain had stated. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be." Within minutes though something gold caught her eye and she swooped down after it like a hawk. Minerva glanced once at her friend and then when she turned and passed the Quaffle, she was hit squarely behind her head by a budge. Everything went black in front of her eyes. When she opened them she found herself lying in the hospital wing with Ro sitting on her side looking very nervous and Poppy, who seemed near tears.

Madam Bell hustled round her examining her head. Minerva felt almost alright except that her vision seemed to blur just a bit over the edges so that it looked as though she were looking at a oil painting. Thinking it was an after mirth of her accident she asked the mediwitch who shook her head in resignation. "Eye sight cannot be put right through magic, you will have to do with glasses" even before Minerva could digest the information, the nurse had conjured up a square set of glasses and placed it on her nose. Smiling in satisfaction, she made her way out. Minerva looked at her friends, Poppy it seemed had cried a lot, her eyes were puffy and she seemed ready to cry again. Rolanda looked angered as well as sad. "What happened to the match?" Minerva asked her friends. "We won I had almost caught the snitch when that idiot Jeff hit you with that budger thinking it would divert me. But I got it anyways. You should have seen Dumbledore's face when you fell looked like he was about to blast people out of his way. He managed to stall your fall without a wand even and then carried you here to the hospital wing. He is one of the people who have been very anxious for you." Rolanda smiled despite herself. "We will have to go now, classes" explained Poppy. So bidding her goodbye her friends made their way out of the infirmary.

Minerva was surprised when Professor Dumbledore made his way into the hospital wing at once. "I wanted to meet you my dear, but did not want to interrupt your friends" he smiled. "You played brilliantly. I am so proud of you" his eyes were twinkling with happiness. Minerva could not help beaming back like always "But well I got myself glasses thanks to the game" she added woefully. "Ah, you did seem more beautiful than usual if you will pardon me saying so, glasses do suit you magnificently. I must congratulate madam Bell on her sense of fashion on my way out" he chuckled. Minerva felt a lot better at once and smiled with warmth this time. "Minerva Mr. Connors would like to meet you. I know you two have not been very good correspondences, but he seems extremely frustrated by the result of his actions. Would you like to meet him?" Dumbledore asked Minerva staring at her from above his glasses. She nodded knowing he would want her to. Dumbledore smiled down at her and gave her a bocce then looked at her one last time before leaving.

Jeff seemed very awkward when he entered the room. "Hello Minerva", he started tentatively, "I really did not know this would happen. I have not behaved properly with you from the start of the term. To tell you the truth I was jealous. You were good at almost every subject without almost any effort, though you always work hard. I could not even get half the results after trying my very best. I know it was silly of me but I could not help it, please I am really sorry." Minerva had been getting more awkward with every passing moment. So, she interrupted at once "Hush please Jeff, apology accepted but please let this conversation rest. I understand your thinking in the way you did, though I can't very well appreciate it, but it was understandable really. The more you go on about this, the more you will embarrass the both of us. Anyways what happened cannot be reversed however much you try" she said pointing at her new glasses. Jeff's mouth fell open in shock "I don't know what to say Minerva, really I-""it's ok Jeff" Minerva interrupted before the flustered boy could continue any further, "I rather like them, even already got a compliment for them", she said blushing "just don't aim at someone's head when hitting a budger. Both of them smiled when madam Bell came rushing in to drive Jeff away.

Days after the accident passed even faster. Winter holidays came and went even before anyone could start to appreciate them properly. Soon it was Valentine's Day. The three friends made their way towards the great hall, Minerva and Ro scowling and Poppy doing her best not to giggle. Minerva had been asked to attend the Valentine's Day ball by Lockhart in a most pompous manner, when she had turned him down, he had turned red in the face and left in a hurry. Ro too had been put through the same experience though by a first year. It was all Poppy could do from not laughing out loud. "Oh, come off it you two, Ro the first year was rather cute and brave and Min, even though you dislike, sorry, loath professor Lockhart, you must admit most girls would kill for that offer" Poppy tried to get her friends smile. "Well I would rather be killed than be offered that" snapped back Minerva. At this even Ro could not help but laugh. Seeing her friend's face she explained before she could rue the day, "Min I am laughing because I remembered that idiot's face when you turned him down. That look was worth being asked to the ball" Minerva smiled at her friend suddenly seeing the funny side. With much better moods they progressed towards the great hall.

Upon entering the hall though they stared at each other, mouths hanging open. The great hall was covered in pink colored confetti all over the roof and floor. The house tables had been replaced by tables for twos, which a sign read would hold only two people of opposite sex, same sex people could not sit together. The three of them looked at each other aghast. Almost at once the first year that had asked Ro to the ball was beside them, "Ro please, you can at least have breakfast with me" he pleaded. Ro looked at the kid and smiled before joining him. Minerva smiled at this, the first year was really cute, Poppy had been right. Before she could think another word she saw Professor Lockhart making his way towards her. Not even thinking twice, she headed straight for the only person she could think of at the moment, Dumbledore, who had been standing where the head's table usually was. "Professor Dumbledore, will you please share a table with me?" she asked not even caring to articulate her speech enough to make him understand her real motive. But he seemed to have understood very well as he smiled down at her, his eyes dancing in merriment, "Ah, my dear I have been unable to fit myself into a table alone as well, I think the card suits both of us, my hunger and your get away." He chuckled at himself before holding out a chair for her to sit. Minerva sighed in relief and took the offered seat. Then looking around she found Lockhart glaring at Dumbledore behind his back and Poppy sitting with Jeff.

Breakfast had been rather enjoyable affair though the credit went to Lockhart. Minerva had found dining with Dumbledore highly amusing. He ate with a zest commenting about the food and its cuisine, which told about his immense knowledge even in that field. Throughout the meal he ate the unhealthiest meals so much so that Minerva had subtly asked, "would you like to have these fruits Professor?" Seeing through her subtlety, he grinned at her "As soon as I finish this last bite mother McGonagall!" Both of them had laughed heartily throughout the meal. After breakfast Minerva had thanked her Professor wholeheartedly before going off to her classes. The ball caused quite a stir in the school as it seemed Lockhart had put more of his imagination at work there, the details though were all sordid given the fact that almost everyone who returned from the ball were punch drunk.

The months after the disturbance passed very fast and soon it was exams. The day before the last exams, Minerva was making her way back to the dormitories, when she heard a high pitched shriek coming from the end of the corridor. She rushed in the direction without another thought to find Sally, the girl from her dormitory sprawled on the floor. Professor Lockhart was on her bodily and her dress was ripped in a huge vent. Removing her wand from its case, fast as a lightning Minerva had blasted Lockhart from the now whimpering girl. Then she kneeled over her friend and tried to console her before casting a quick repairing charm that sealed the front of her robes again. What she had failed to notice was that Lockhart had got to his feet while she had been consoling her crestfallen friend. He dove at them both, Minerva, having noticed him at the very last moment rolled over with her friend, her wand slipping out of her grip in the process. She got up at once, pulling Sally up with her and faced Lockhart. "Leave, at once, or I will tell the headmaster about your activities both now and in our detentions" she said glaring at him with her eyes flashing and lips thin in anger. "What will you tell Miss McGonagall, when I am done with you? Even though I might not be good at other charms like miss brains guessed early on, I do have a very good talent in a few which have come in very handy, otherwise how do you think I still have people believing I did all these great things?" Lockhart was smiling widely at the two of them.

Minerva could very well guess the charm he was hinting at but knew the only way out of this was to keep him talking and buy time. Closing her eyes to concentrate she murmured softly once "Faux, I need professor Dumbledore at once, please help me!" opening her eyes she started stalling, "After all that stuff you did in your books—" "Books can be misleading," said Lockhart delicately. "You wrote them!" Minerva shouted in hope someone would hear her voice. "My dear lady," said Lockhart, straightening up and frowning at Minerva. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a harelip. I mean, come on—" "So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" said Minerva incredulously. "Minerva, Minerva," said Lockhart, shaking his head impatiently, "it's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work, Minerva. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."

He banged his hands on the walls before turning to face the girls again. "Let's see," he said. "I think that's everything you need to know. Yes. Only one thing left." He pulled out his wand and turned to them. "Awfully sorry, ladies, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place now can I? I'd never sell another book—" turning with a flourish, Lockhart pointed his wand at the two girls, "Now, who would like to go first? Ah you will have to Miss McGonagall, you are standing too protectively in front of your rather lovely friend", he winked at the two of them. Knowing what was coming, Minerva made her decision in a flash. As he raised his wand and muttered the incantations, Minerva raised her wand arm and concentrated with all her might. To her relief she saw a silver shield form in front of her from thin air, concentrating harder; she wrapped her shield into a silver sphere enclosing Lockhart and the memory charm all within it."MINERVA!" the voice of Dumbledore boomed onto her ear as she turned to see him running in her direction. With sally still clinging onto her as though holding for dear life, she looked up at his face tentatively. She saw his face filled with all kinds of emotions, relief was the foremost. Other emotions included sheer rage, disbelief and frustration. He took one look at the silver sphere before sending it sailing towards the headmaster's office.

Then turning to the girls he spoke in the most commanding voice Minerva had ever heard him use "Follow me to the hospital wing, Miss McGonagall if you will levitate Miss Grandwilight, she seems unable to walk and also to let go of you, here-"he said holding out her wand. Minerva pocketed her wand and said, "I will carry her professor, levitating might jerk her nerves to worse states." She bent down and pulled her friend bodily onto herself. Turning and nodding once at professor Dumbledore, she moved towards the hospital wing. Entering the Infirmary, she places Sally gingerly onto a bed. But, Sally it seemed was even now unable to let her go. She clung to Minerva with all her might, not knowing what to do at the moment, she looked upon the nurse for further instructions. "You saved her from some great mishap it seems?" seeing both her and Dumbledore nod in the affirmative she continued, "She seems to trust you and hence feels secure with you. You will have to sit on the bed holding her while I administer the calming draught and the dreamless sleep potion to her." she bustled out to the potions cupboard while Minerva pulled her friend onto her lap, waiting for the nurse to return. She glanced up a few times at Dumbledore while the mediwitch treated Sally wishing to catch his eye but he seemed to be in deep thought. When at last she fell asleep, Minerva untangled herself carefully from her and laid down her head with utmost care on the pillow. It was them that she felt Dumbledore's hand on her elbow. She turned at him questioningly, "we have to go to the headmaster Minerva, please forgive my lack of options." he said looking very crestfallen. Minerva looked at him and nodded before saying "Please professor, you do not need to apologize, whatever happened was not your fault." "Was it not my dear?" he asked. Knowing he did not want the answer Minerva kept quite feeling helpless, unable to console the person who was taking all the blame while deserving all the credit.

Minerva and a very subdued Dumbledore made their way to the headmaster's office. When they entered, Minerva felt herself going cold all of a sudden. This was the first time she had come to the headmaster's office. Although they saw professor Dippet regularly at meal times, being in his office was not comfortable at all. First time seeing the headmaster from close proximity, she took in his appearance, he was medium height, balding with a beard and although he was the post of ultimate power, he did not give off the aura as she had expected having quite got used to Dumbledore's aura. In one of the chairs was lying an unconscious Professor Lockhart, now free from his silver cage. "Did you conjure the cage Miss-?" "McGonagall" introduced Dumbledore before she could get out any word. "Well whatever. Did she?" asked the headmaster rather impatiently. Dumbledore nodded as the headmaster continued, "What charm was that Miss McGonagall?" "It was done wand less Armando, so you can rest assured no charm was involved. Lockhart had wrestled her wand away earlier. Faux led me to the commotion; it seemed the Professor was having a hard time keeping his hand off the female students. You already know of his escapades with Miss McGonagall, she was barely saved each time." Throughout his speech Dumbledore glared at the headmaster. The headmaster lowered his eyes unable to hold the fire that streaked from his eyes.

Minerva who had been gaping at her two professors this long suddenly found her voice. He was trying to rape Sally headmaster. When I got there her robes were slashed open all the way to her waist in the front." When she had said this, a look of utter agony passed over the face of Dumbledore but the headmaster remained stoic. "I will take the necessary actions. Thank you for your help Miss McGonagall but you could have spared yourself the trouble of wrapping your solid shield around Professor Lockhart along with the curse." He said, glancing once at Dumbledore who was glaring at his boss again. Minerva opened her mouth to reply but found her view blocked by Dumbledore. He nodded his head infinitesimally so that only Minerva could see it. Taking his instructions at once, she thanked the headmaster before leaving. Dumbledore astonishingly joined her. They walked silently to his office.

Reaching his office Dumbledore held open the door for her. Looking up at him once she walked in, and sat down on the chair he held out to her. "Minerva please let me apologize properly; I let you down in so many ways when you trusted me so blindly. I-"he started but Minerva had had enough. Why did he have to blame himself? If Sally was safe at the moment and she was not expelled, it was only because of this man and here he was apologizing for that rogue. "Professor," she interrupted, "really, this is enough. Why do you have to take the blame for every mishap under the sun? Oh, no you do not need to tell me your reasons, I already know them, _I should have been there, I should have looked out for the safety of the students, I failed my duty as head of your house when you were under my protection, I let you go through so much this year saving you from the same mishap barely, _please professor I do not need to hear those reasoning's. For the most intelligent wizard you can be pretty thick at times. You could not have looked out for all of the girls in the castle at the same time and these mishaps don't come with a warning. If you had not found me when you did he might even have broken through the shield and yes you could have been there earlier but that would have been pure chance. You are only human professor, you can't be omnipresent." She was glaring at her favorite professor daring him to contradict her and try to take some blame again. Instead he suddenly smiled, "it has been a long time since I faced a lecture. It seems I have lost my ability to a witty reply" he chuckled, "and point made. I will not take the blame but I can't help but feel bad for whatever happened tonight. I hardly think anyone could help feeling bad."

Minerva visibly relaxed when she realized he was not going to blame himself any more. So she just nodded her giving in to her mental exhaustion. "I am sorry my dear, I should not have tried to take the blame it is just as you said, I felt responsible for my Gryffindor. But, your point if taken; these mishaps do not come with warnings" he smiled meekly at her. Minerva smiled back this time "you are forgiven." She was glad she had stopped his brooding at last but she had other things on mind as well "Professor, if you do not mind, could I spend the night in the infirmary? I am fine," she added before Dumbledore could start worrying about her, "It's just, I thought if Sally found me beside her when she awoke, she might be more comfortable." "That is very kind of you my dear, of course you can spend the night in the infirmary" he said now smiling broadly, "but, first inform your other friends, they will be worried." Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Minerva greeted Dumbledore goodnight and left his office. Making her way to Gryffindor tower, she gave the password and was not the least surprised to find Ro and Poppy waiting for her. She beckoned them over whispered, "Sally has had an accident and is in the infirmary. I am fine really, so do not worry about me. What happened to her is not my secret to share, so I will not tell anything and it would also be a great help if you two did not mention this to anyone and did not ask questions when you met her." Ro and Poppy nodded at her. Wishing her friends goodnight, Minerva at last made her way to the infirmary, where informing Madam Bell that she had Dumbledore's permission, she flopped down into the bed next to Sally falling asleep almost instantly.

It had been very hard to control Sally when she woke up the next day and even harder to keep her from clutching at Minerva all the time. After a lot of reassuring words and a little encouragement from Minerva, she had calmed down at last. Sally had been very glad that almost no one except Minerva, Dumbledore and the headmaster knew her fate. The last exam had flown by and in no time it was time to leave Hogwarts. Minerva had found the last few days pretty amusing. Sally it seemed had attached herself like a little plaster to Minerva, and even after Minerva promising to help her whenever she needed it she always found the girl trailing wherever she went. Giving up at last Minerva accepted it with good grace; Sally was a harebrain, but not bad. Her exams had gone very well and she had developed a kind of friendship with Dumbledore which made her smile whenever she thought about it. At last all her thing packed and all last minute work done, she turned and departed her home for what was going to be a really long month.


	4. Chapter 4

Declaimer: I do not own them

Author's Notes:keep reviewing, it makes my day

Minerva had found herself with an armful of Sally when she had first arrived at kings cross station on the first of September. Shaking her head in resignation she had patted the girl on her head gently before detangling herself and leading them both into an empty compartment. They had soon been joined by Ro and Poppy who had both grinned at them and taken the remaining seats. The journey had been uneventful except when the food trolley had come. Never having a great liking for sweets Minerva had bought no candy at all. Ro on the other hand had got herself a whole treasure trove. When they had finished with the food, she had told Minerva to take a chocolate frog. Never having had them, she stared at them not knowing what to do. "They're not really frogs, are they?" she asked not knowing what to think if they were."No," said Ro. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa." "What?" "Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

Minerva unwrapped her Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. At once her jaw fell open in astonishment when she looked at the picture on the card. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore. "Dumbledore!" exclaimed Minerva. "Don't tell me you did not know he was on the cards. Bet you would have bought them if you knew." said Ro cheekily grinning at her friend. Minerva turned over her card and read:

**_ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_**

**_CURRENTLY DEPUTY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS_**

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Smiling at the card Minerva put it inside her little box that kept her private things. No one other than the owner could open that box. So, she felt secure putting the card in there all the while failing to notice Ro staring at her. When she looked up, Ro offered her another frog, Minerva shook her head silently going over her past moments with her favorite professor in her head while staring at the ceiling. She understood one thing; she had a not so small crush on her transfiguration Professor. She smiled at her realization thinking she should have thought of it earlier; now she thought of it, the feelings had been there for years, from the first time she had seen him.

Minerva had been uncharacteristically silent throughout the rest of the journey even though all her friends had tried their level best to retrieve her from her lapse into dream world. On reaching the great hall, Minerva beamed at the familiar sight of Dumbledore standing beside the stool with the sorting hat to get the new students sorted. Ro shook her head and prodded her with her elbow, "hey dreamy, get back from your world, you have the whole year to dream, at least cheer the youngsters." Minerva looked up startled at last out of her revere "Oh well I was just thinking about the extra lessons I plan on taking this year." "What extra lessons Min?" Ro asked suddenly interested. "Oh well," Minerva could not help herself blushing, "I wanted to train in becoming an animagus. I thought I would ask Professor Dumbledore if he would train me." Ro smiled at her friend and replied "Don't worry, he will."

So, after their first transfiguration class of the year, Minerva waited for the rest of the class to leave so that she could talk to Dumbledore. "Professor Dumbledore, I would like to ask you something" she began not knowing what to say and how to. "Yes, my dear, you do not have to ask my permission to question me. I thought we were above such formalities, aren't we?" professor Dumbledore surveyed her from over his half moon glasses smiling reassuringly. "Well, you see professor I have been reading all this summer about animagus' and well I was so intrigued, I thought it would be lovely to well be able to turn into one and well, I was just wondering if you would teach me." She finished in one breath and peeked at Dumbledore not daring to look him in the eye. He seemed to be in deep thought. Suddenly she felt that may be it would be asking too much, she at once tried to put right what she had already done, "Professor, I am really sorry if I have, I mean I can understand, you are such a busy man with so many calls already on your time, I should not have asked at all. I am so sorry professor please" she started blabbering. "Minerva my dear," Professor Dumbledore interrupted her rant, looking up meekly she noticed he still had the thoughtful look though he did not look angry, "I am not angry on you Minerva nor do I think you made any unwelcome demand, it's just that, well animagus training is very risky."

Everyone had heard stories of witches and wizards who tried to turn themselves into animagus and found themselves in St. Mugos and usually for a long stay. "Minerva, I am hardly a professional for this kind of highly qualified training. There are more professionally qualified wizards at the ministry who could train you much better and more perfectly. If you want, I could easily have you to train from one of them", he offered. Minerva's heart dropped as she understood that he meant he could not train her. "Professor, from what little I have read about animagus training I gathered this much that it had life risks and needs a very high level of understanding and cooperation between the mentor and the student?" she asked not trusting her voice to continue. "Yes my dear, that is true. Why do you ask?" he looked at her apprehensively. "Thank you Professor for your kind offer but I do not think I am compatible enough to go through the required training. I only thought about taking it up because I thought you would be able to teach me. But, well, I understand professor and you need to understand me as well. I could not trust anyone so completely and absolutely with myself, hence the training would not be as fruitful as expected, thank you professor." she addressed her speech at Dumbledore's boots then without even looking up said, "I have potion classes professor, I had better go." Turning she made her way towards the door.

Dumbledore had been so kind, he always was kind. He could easily have pointed out the little amount of time he had to himself, instead he had even offered to get her another teacher. Even though Minerva had thought it sweet, she had been very honest when she had said she could not trust anyone else as much as she trusted Dumbledore. The idea of an animagus had intrigued her more for the fact that she had felt she knew the perfect person who could teach her. Learning it from anyone else seemed scary. Minerva had been so immersed in her thoughts; she had not even heard Dumbledore calling out to her or heard him move. It was when he tugged at her elbow that she looked up with a jerk. "Minerva, you amaze me every time with the amount of trust you place in me. It is not that I did not want to teach you. Please understand that it would have been much easier to teach anyone else but, well, you happen to be my favorite student, something I am not used to have and I have grown pretty fond of you. Making you go through several exercises that I know are risky, would be really tough for me. It is only for this reason I hesitated my dear. But, of course you are right as always. You are more secure in my presence than any other instructors. I will teach you. Though rest assured it is a lot of hard work." He added now smiling down at the beaming girl.

"I certainly believe that it is worth working on. You have an innate sense for Transfiguration, Minerva; you also have an excellent grasp of theory, as well as the practical skills and diligence required. Few possess all of these qualities in sufficient measure to actually achieve an Animagus form. They may grasp the theory, but have no intuition, no _feeling_, for Transfiguration. Or they may possess the innate sense and theoretical basis, but lack the skills necessary. But even all of that is insufficient without diligence, care, motivation, and hard work. I believe you possess all the requisites to become an Animagus." Dumbledore smiled at the now beaming young girl. "It is a great deal of work and will require time and energy from you that you could spend on other pursuits." "_Yes_, Professor Dumbledore!" During his speech, Minerva's resolve had grown double, increasing her excitement even more, and pride that Professor Dumbledore believed in her. "Now, I believe you said something about potion classes my dear?" he said his eyes twinkling. With a promise to visit him that night in his office, Minerva smiled up at him before rushing off to her classes for the rest of the day.

Minerva could hardly keep still that day. Ro had given her a knowing smile while Poppy had been amazed. Sally it seemed was scared for her safety. She tried to reassure the girl though she did not succeed too well being too excited herself. Not only had Dumbledore told her he would train her, he had also said she was his favorite student. Minerva had never been happier in her life. It seemed as though she could hardly keep her foot firmly on the ground. Her friends were amazed by her behavior. The usually prim and proper girl was going as harebrained as Sally it seemed. Ro shook her head in resignation before catching her friends arm as she was about to pour a vial of liquid into her cauldron on potion "Minerva! Get your head dreamy or do I have to go to Dumbledore's rooms to search for it? You are pouring pumpkin juice into your healing solution, it says salamander blood." She sounded very exasperated. Minerva gasped having being pulled out of her train of thoughts, then blushing a deep scarlet, quickly finished the rest of the potion.

That evening Minerva quickly ate whatever she could find closest on the long table in the great hall before hurrying towards Dumbledore's office. She knocked and was surprised to hear "Come in Minerva." She entered to find him standing a little away from his desk. "Would my sitting room be comfortable Minerva?" Minerva smiled and nodded following Dumbledore into his sitting room. She took in the appearance of the room. It looked very snug with a long red couch and a few comfortable chairs. The walls were lined with shelves full of books. "Now, are we ready to begin?" Dumbledore asked smiling already knowing the answer. Minerva grinned at him and nodded. Albus beamed at her. "Wonderful! I have some books for you to read over the year, and a few exercises for you to do – they do not require a wand, so they are perfectly acceptable to practice. I do want you to promise only to do the exercises that I prescribe, and none others of which you may read. If you truly wish to try a different technique, please Owl me, and do _not_ attempt _anything_ before you hear back from me. I may be gone for a good bit of the summer, but I promise that if you have a question, I will respond as soon as I am practically able. I do not want to find it necessary to visit you in St. Mungo's!"

"Of course, sir! And I will try not to bother you too much– I know you do not usually have much time to yourself." "You would not be a bother, Minerva, and it would be nice to have a friendly letter waiting for me on return from my trips. Besides, I will actually be at Hogwarts always you know, so I will be working just the usual I guess, and although I will be occupied with school business during that time, I would welcome correspondence from you." "All right, sir! Do you have any recommendations for what I should read first?" "_Fundamentals of Animal Transfiguration_ would be the one to begin with, although I know you've read it already, probably more than once. But now you will read it with an eye toward becoming an Animagus. You may also read _Taming the Mind, Finding the Beast_, but bear in mind that it is non-standard and Virgil Vortmun was rather an eccentric. I do not suggest that you try his methods! This book, however," Albus said, pulling one from the pile that he had taken from the shelf behind him, "this book you will likely wish to read and re-read throughout your project."

Dumbledore handed her _The Emergent Creature: Focussing the Human Mind to Evoke the Latent Animal Within_. Minerva glanced at the cover, and then flipped to the front of the book. She giggled, and then put her hand over her mouth. "Something amusing, Miss McGonagall?" asked Professor Dumbledore, quirking an eyebrow. "Um, sir, would you happen to be acquainted with the author?" Minerva asked, trying to keep a straight face. "Well, as a matter of fact, yes, we are acquaintances of a sort although, that is not why I believe you will find the book valuable." Albus grinned. "Why do you ask?" "Hmm, the name is just a bit familiar, that's all, sir. 'Apiarus B. White,' sir?" "Yes, well, I suppose it is a bit transparent, but at the time I thought it clever. I was young." Albus said with a shrug and a smile. Minerva smiled having known earlier that it was a name Dumbledore used if he did not want to be traced back to himself and replaced it on the stack. There were about a half dozen books there, and Minerva was itching to read them.

"And the exercises you want me to practice? Are they in these books?""There are variations on them in _Emergent Creature_ and _Occlumency: From Clearing to Clouding_, but I want you to do the specific exercises that I have written out for you." As Dumbledore reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a sheaf of parchments, Minerva was struck by something he'd said. "Occlumency, sir? I thought I was learning to be an Animagus." "The preparatory work to becoming an Animagus share similarities with some of that required to become a true Occlumens, which goes beyond merely closing one's mind," Albus replied. "I think you will understand better how they are related after you have studied the other books.""I can hardly wait to begin, Professor!"

"I hope that the little I have said does not torment your curiosity too badly, Minerva. I only raise this issue now in order to emphasize the potential importance of the studying you will do this year. One cannot force the Animagus process – not without ending up in St. Mungo's – however, one _can_ speed it up. By diligently reading and practicing the exercises, you can create the proper conditions for achieving your Animagus transformation in as short a time as possible. Please be assured, my dear, that I will not ask you to do anything that will bring you into danger. I do not want you to try to transform too soon and cause yourself any injury. Do you understand?" "I think so Professor" replied Minerva grinning at her favorite teacher.

"I also think that it is wise since, although I have every faith that you are capable of becoming an Animagus, in the event that it takes a longer time than we hope, I do not wish you to feel burdened by the prospect. If you are diligent, we should have a better indication of your Animagus ability by the end of the year." "How long do you think it will take, Professor?" Minerva asked, already feeling pressure, despite not knowing what the process would include. "I do not know. Most who are successful take two or three years to accomplish the complete Animagus transformation, if they have a competent teacher. Without one, it is unlikely to be achieved in under three or four years, if at all." "Three years!" exclaimed Minerva. She was sure that she had read something of the sort before, but hearing it now, in this context, seemed daunting.

"Hmm, do you not believe me to be a competent teacher, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked with an impish grin. "Oh, no, sir, not at all! You are better than competent!" It may have sounded like weak praise, but Minerva blushed internally at the thought of telling him that he was the best teacher anyone could ever have. She would sound like a three-year old, she thought. Dumbledore laughed loudly at Minerva's declaration, and she smiled. "Well, my dear, since I am a better-than-competent teacher, and you are a better-than-competent student, we just may accomplish it in a better-than-competent time. Let's see if we can – no rushing! Just diligence!" with that he walked her back to her dormitory as had become his custom whenever he met her after dinner and bade her goodnight with one last smile his eyes twinkling.

Minerva was beyond herself in glee that night. She found her friends waiting up for her when she entered the common room with her stack of books. She quickly updated them on her meeting with Dumbledore. All of them seemed very appreciative. Minerva though wanted to be alone at the moment and relieve the last two hours. Although she had already told herself that however long she might have had her infatuation, it was neither logical nor was it right, but she still seemed unable to control herself from reliving their short encounters. Knowing that she had already brooded a lot recently and it seemed Ro already suspected something, so she gave up in resignation. As the year progressed Minerva dutifully studied her Animagus-project texts, and practiced her exercises every morning and evening, and a few in-between times, as well. She remained ensconced in her room except when she would go outdoors and sit with her back to an old oak tree by the lake, eyes closed.

Minerva had taken to getting up even earlier than she usually did. Every morning now she dressed in a set of tight deep blue slacks and a t-shirt, dawn her cloak over her and go down to the grounds for a walk. Walking round the lake a few times, she would abandon her cloak and take to running and practicing various muggle gymnastics. Her friends had been very interested at first sometimes even becoming a little irritating questioning her every living moment when she was trying her best to concentrate and keep her cool but slowly it had died out. Her animagus training quickly became a part of her like her extraordinary reading habits or visits to the library. Minerva hardly ever even visited hogsmeade, a wizardry town outside Hogwarts. Whenever her friends went she just asked them to bring her a bundle of chocolate frogs most of whose cards she allowed them to keep taking only a few for her.

Minerva it seemed to her had found a new hobby. She had unknowingly stored all her transfiguration assignments from her first year in the little box that was one of her most protected possessions. Now, the chocolate frog cards made their way into it as well though she did not collect any except the ones with Dumbledore. This she found usually kept her calm and even helped her concentrate. Her other classes of the term were progressing even better thanks to her newfound calm. She found she could multitask much easily than earlier and even found time to practice and play Quidditch. Soon it was time for their first Quidditch match of the season. The Gryffindor team played brilliantly beating the Hufflepuff team by 250 points. The whole team was exhilarated but Minerva, to her own annoyance found she was quirked at the fact that Dumbledore was missing from the stadium. He usually came to all the matches and never missed the Gryffindor team matches whatever came. "Stop it Min, he will be somewhere about." Ro said glaring in exasperation at her friend. Minerva nodded before turning away from the stands and joining her friends.

As the team made its way into the castle, Minerva felt a tingling sensation on her neck. Turning just in time she saw professor Dumbledore returning to the castle. So, he had not been in the castle. That explained his absence from the match. Putting his absence to the cause that he had to attend many social and ministry occasions Minerva put the thought out of her head. Two days after the match Minerva made her way to his office. This was the first time they were meeting after he had given her the books to read and the exercises to do. She knocked and was asked to enter at once. Once again she found him standing a little way from the table. Understanding that they would be talking in his sitting room, she made to follow him after greeting him with a smile. When she entered his sitting room though, her breath was taken away. She gaped in awe at the sight before her. The couch and chairs had been removed to be replaced by a small long table in the centre. The room looked huge and intimidating without the usual coy surroundings.

"Find anything new my dear?" Dumbledore asked her smiling with mirth. "This Minerva is a dueling platform. You have as I had earlier instructed gone through the books on animagus training. As it happens I thought you would also be interested to learn some practical dueling. Would you be interested?" he looked at her waiting for her answer. As she let his words sink in, Minerva could not believe her ears. Not only was Dumbledore going to train her for animagus, he was also going to teach her dueling. "I would love to Professor" she replied after first testing her voice which seemed to have deserted her after his question "though why you suddenly thought of this really makes me curious." "Ah, my dear that I can not reveal to you at present; I will have to ask you to trust my judgment which I presume you do?" not waiting for her reply he climbed nimbly onto the platform. Minerva quickly mirrored his actions and found herself standing face to face with her favorite Professor.

The rest of the evening Dumbledore first went about explaining to her the art of dueling and its origin. Then he went on to tell her about the process of dueling before asking her to take out her wand and duel him. Minerva had been aghast and had protested vehemently. "Professor what do you think you are doing? I am not going to duel you. Not under any circumstances. It is impossible for me to knowingly aim any hexes at you although I know you can deflect them all." Dumbledore had turned a deaf ear to all her protests and a duel had issued. He had given up within minutes. "Minerva," he bellowed seeming very agitated, "you profess knowing your hexes won't harm me and yet you won't even put an ounce of power into them? Do you think I could not protect myself? Do you think I do not even have the power to stop the hexes thrown at me by a third year?" "No…profess…or…I…" Minerva was at the verge of tears. She had not intended at insulting her Professor but her deep rooted love and respect for the man did not allow her to think of him as a target calculatingly. "So…rr….rr….ry..yy" Minerva had shuttered, her teeth clattering together despite her attempts at framing a proper apology.

Realizing at once the immense impact of his words, Dumbledore was beside her in half a breath. "Minerva," he began reaching out to her while she cowered away. Minerva tried her level best to calm herself down, but it was all she could do to keep from bursting into tears composing herself seemed totally beyond her at the moment. Forcing herself to speak, she whispered barely audibly, "I….feel….un…able…ton….night…pl..sees…see….exec…se …mme" shuttering as she spoke never looking up once. "It is all right my dear" he escorted her back to her dormitory, neither of them speaking another word while they walked. When they reached the portrait hole, Dumbledore gave the password sparing Minerva from speaking again. Then turning to her he said softly, "Minerva, I-" "Good…good night Professor" and with that Minerva jumped into the portrait hole, closing it behind her.

Minerva was never more thankful to find an empty common room. Her friends had gone up to bed knowing she would be late. Curling herself up into an armchair by the fire, she tried her best to calm herself, a very tough fleet as the events of the evening played out in front of her eyes. She tried to tear her mind away from the thoughts and direct them at anything else, even the exams that were almost there but failed miserably. She tried her occlumency lessons next; it failed her the first time ever. Unable to do anything about her jumbled up feelings and the tight knot in her chest, she closed her eyes in resignation. She tried to ease out her breathing which had become labored thanks to the fact that her chest seemed to have constricted even to accommodate her heart and lungs. After a while her body gave in to the exhaustion of the day as she drifted off into a disturbed sleep, a single silent tear escaping her eyes.

Dumbledore paced his study in agitation. What had come over him? Why did he have to shout at the poor girl so harshly? For the first time he had met Minerva McGonagall he had found her on the verge of tears. Never being an ordinary girl, he had found Minerva McGonagall one of the strongest young women he had met. She had remained stout and strong even in dire situations. And yet he had been so harsh tonight that he had seen the girl struggle for her breath and struggle to hold back her tears with all her might. Albus had decided to train her in dueling for her own defense knowing her magical prowess. It was only natural that she was unable to point her wand calculatingly at her mentor whom she respected so immensely. He could easily have explained everything soothingly to her. Instead he had shouted at her and even claimed of her doubting him. In years, Albus Dumbledore felt like hexing himself. He had expected a lot from her and not receiving his expected output had frustrated him, but nothing justified his rash behavior. Sighing at his own folly, he at last flopped down into his couch where he fell asleep within moments, his body succumbing to the exhaustion of a really long day.

The next week was utter torture to both Albus and Minerva. However much he tried to get her alone to apologize, she seemed to vanish into thin air whenever he searched. Minerva on the other hand did her best to avoid her transfiguration Professor but at the end of the day was finding it very hard. He had come seeking her many times now and she had ducked either behind suits of armors or desks or her friends. Ro, Poppy and Sally were exasperated with her and were not talking to her either. They had come down in the morning after the eventful night to find Minerva curled up in the chair by the fire a single tear stain on her cheeks. They had done all they could to make her talk but failed miserably. Minerva, it seemed to them had lost her power of speech. She had hardly uttered a word from that night if any and was avoiding Dumbledore as though he were a plague.

Two weeks after the fateful evening, Minerva was walking alone on her way to the dungeon when she heard footsteps behind her. Turning hastily she found she was too late. Dumbledore was walking towards her and it was no use hiding. He had already spotted her. Minerva wished the grounds would open up and swallow her. Why on earth did she have to be walking alone? Well, there was no help; so, she tried to regain her voice which seemed to have got rusty from being out of use for so long. She had not been much of a speaker while living at her uncle's but the usual morning and night wishes kept her voice from getting lost. Two weeks of total lapse seemed to have struck her dumb in reality. Dumbledore looked down at the girl he had come to regard as a dear friend. She seemed to be fumbling for her voice and had lost quite a bit of weight in these weeks. Her eyes had deep dark circles which were almost purple. Unable to take the consequences of his unwise and rash shouting, he did the only thing that came to his mind. Stepping forward, she evolved her in an embrace. At first she stiffened, and then quivered like a willow. Dumbledore help her tighter, waiting for her nerves to get a better control over themselves and her to compose her features.

When he pulled back at last, Minerva seemed to have the ghost of a smile about her lips, while her eyes looked into his with fear as well as relief. "Shall we continue our discussion in private my dear," he whispered, his own voice hoarse with emotions. Clearing his voice he continued, "I will speak personally to Slughorn. He will not punish you for missing his classes" he stated already leading the way towards his rooms. Minerva could not have cared less about being punished. Her heart had stopped when he had embraced her. Then all the emotions bottled up within her had come flooding to the surface. It had only been due to her nature that she had not cried her heart out in his embrace. Dumbledore held open the door to his office for her to enter and led her further into his sitting room. Minerva stiffened to see he had not changed the settings of the room.

"Minerva, my dear, please do relax, I am very perturbed to see you so frightened and stiff in my presence. I am really sorry my dear, I should not have shouted on you that day. I understand my demands were a bit out of the line, but I had very high expectations from you, I still have and not receiving the expected results agitated me. I understand my folly now. It is your deep rooted respect and admiration for me that has stopped you from performing at your best. Please forgive my folly my dear, I have never felt so bad in my whole life" Dumbledore had looked steadily into her eyes throughout his speech. Minerva's expressions had gone from first astonishment to pride and then to utter glee. "Professor it is really alright. I was foolish as well, I knew you could block any hex or curse I could throw at you but still did not fire them with the power required because of being over emotional. I did not mean to show you disrespect in any way professor nor do I doubt your capabilities in any way" she responded wholeheartedly. "We both have been foolish my dear, what do you say to starting afresh now that we have understood each other even better?" Dumbledore was smiling again and Minerva looked as though she could have sung with joy. She looked at him and nodded her assent.

"First let me put right what mess I have created of you. You my dear, have hardly eaten anything these two weeks, I was hoping you would join me for an early lunch while we continued our discussion." Not waiting for her reply, he called to a house elf and was soon ordering food for two. "I was so worried you were angry with me professor, I could not even look you in the eye and my friends, I do not know if they will ever talk to me again. I have really behaved like a kid these couple of weeks, avoiding all company and immersing myself into my books when I was really getting nothing into my head." she could not help but pour out her woes to him although it seemed very childish. Dumbledore though did not find her childish or funny. His smile dimmed as he understood the pressure she had been through all this time. "I am really sorry for putting you through this hell my dear." He looked so crestfallen that Minerva reassured him at once "Please professor it is alright now and I could easily have solved it if I had talked to you instead I made it so hard for you. I should be the one apologizing." Just then a huge lunch appeared on the table of the room. As the two of them sat eating and chatting they moved off to much more cheerful topics and were soon laughing hard.

As Minerva made her way out of his office to meet her friends, she turned round one last time "Thank you professor, you have been so helpful and so obliging. I will never let you down again. Could we start our dueling tonight?" "Will eight o' clock suffice my dear?" he replied smiling at the now eager girl. Through their lunch together, they had somehow managed to each get over their insecurities and now understood each other even better. Professing her assent Minerva went off to the rest of the day before her duel. When she had found her friends they had ignored her altogether which she understood had become the daily custom. Heaving a sigh, she made her way over to them and cleared her throat. Before she could get another word out Ro had slapped her straight across the face. "How dare you make such a mess of yourself? Do you know how worried we have been? Have you even looked at yourself Min?" she shouted at the top of her voice. The whole common room stared at the four of them, Ro seemed least bothered. "Ro, we would be better off in the dormitory." Poppy pulled gently at the sleeve of the agitated girl. Not knowing if she would shout again if she opened her mouth Ro simply nodded stiffly before storming off to the dormitory followed by Poppy. Sally shook her head and came over to Minerva "come on Min, come to the dormitory. We have been really worried." She said pulling at her sleeve. Smiling, she followed.

Minerva knew she deserved every bit of the talking too she received but she felt really cornered. Ro and Poppy had kept up a constant barrage of allegations once they had reached the dorm. Finally Minerva interrupted them, "Ro, Poppy and you too Sally, I know really that you have been worried and I am really sorry about it but I was honestly under a lot of pressure. I seemed to have lost all power of understanding and logical thinking. I know it worried you to death as I slowly starved myself and turned dumb, but it was not intentional. I just could not cope with the situation. I promise never to do it again, please forgive me guys." Ro looked as though she could do with another shouting but Poppy flung her arms around Minerva embracing her and sobbing onto her shoulders. Minerva hugged her back holding tightly onto the weeping girl, rubbing her back soothingly and murmuring apologies and promises into her ear. When Poppy finally calmed down, Ro came over and hugged her tersely. "I will keep an eye on you and forgive you if you do not repeat it again. Just because you do not have parents Min does not mean there is no one who cares for you. Do you know by the way that this harebrain," she said pointing at sally" has been crying every living minute?" Minerva was really touched by the amount of affection her friends had for her she opened her arms wide and embraced all three of them together finally feeling as though even she had a family.

Later that night when she made her way to Dumbledore's office after a huge dinner assisted severely by Poppy, Dumbledore opened his mouth in protest when he saw her. "What happened to you my dear? Your cheek-"he was pointing at the angry red streak the slap from Ro had left. "Nothing professor, "Minerva mumbled feeling embarrassed, "Just an angry family. Ro was beside herself in rage at my ignoring my health and going almost mad etcetera etc." Dumbledore chuckled as he realized that she was not really hurt, just admonished. That night their duel progressed even better than anything they had expected. Minerva who had become an expert at firing hexes at the blink of an eye, proved to be a more worthy opponent than either of them had thought. With the acute timings and quirky combinations of her spells, Dumbledore was soon doing quite a lot of hard work himself. When at last he managed to topple her over, she was up in a flash and had cast a body bind at the same instant which Dumbledore barely avoided. The dueling continued for quite some time until Dumbledore raised his hand calling it a session. Minerva slumped onto the floor, exhausted by the huge amount of work. "What would you like my dear, hot chocolate or tea?" Dumbledore asked as he made his way over to her. "Tea" she replied in a huff.

Dumbledore leaned over and pulled her up. "I think you would be more comfortable in the couch." He led her to the corner of the room and helped her settle down before flopping onto a chair himself. Rummaging in his cloak, he produced a chocolate frog and pressed it to her. "Eat it you will need the energy. Your performance tonight was brilliant. I had to really work to keep from losing the duel to you." Dumbledore was beaming from ear to ear. "Thank you professor" Minerva beamed at him. "Call me Albus, after all we are friends and you can address me by my first name when we are in private." Minerva ate the frog and looked at the card. Smiling she tucked it into the box she always carried with her. "Whom did you get?" Albus asked curiously. Minerva flushed a shade of pink, "Pro-Albus, I got the wizard in front of me." It was Albus' turn to flush now. He smiled bleakly at her thankful to his long beard which covered up his own blush.

As they sat there sipping their drinks, Albus his usual hot chocolate and Minerva her tea, her eyes fell on a chess board. It was the most beautiful set she had ever laid eyes on. The board was a crystal clear one and the men looked more like the men in real life than in any set she had ever seen. Seeing her gaze Albus smiled "Do you play my dear?" "Oh, well I used to play back at home, I absolutely loved it. But here well, no one seems to like to play chess. Do you?" not replying to her question Albus got up and walked over to the chess set then turning towards her smiled, "Shall we?" Minerva jumped up at once grinning. Soon they were seated opposite each other deep into the game. Albus had started out a little unsure as to how well she could play but had soon learned that she was someone to watch out for when playing chess. Minerva had been shocked to see the reactions of the chess pieces at first as she had always played muggle chess before but had soon learned. It was almost midnight when Minerva bleakly checkmated Albus. He sat there aghast for a moment absorbing into his system that he had been defeated in a game of chess after decades. Then both of them burst out laughing. When they looked up at the clock they sobered up immediately. Albus looked quite shocked and anxious though Minerva looked quite at ease. "Relax Albus, my friends were warned to go off to bed without me if I did not return in time" she smiled as he relaxed.

The months were soon flying. Minerva found herself engaged in so many activities at the same time that it was really hard for her to see the time fly by. She trained more vigorously for the animagus, dueled Albus whenever they could set up an appointment that did not clash with both their schedules, looked up books on advanced defensive magic, studies for the exams helped her friends and played Quidditch. She loved every moment of her busy schedule while still getting exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. Albus had grown more and more proud of her and she had found this pushed her even more than any criticism or scolding from anyone had ever done. Her friends especially Ro were more than thankful that she and Dumbledore had patched up and were back to normal. Soon it was time for them to leave for the summer holidays. Minerva looked woeful that night as she sat playing chess with Albus, another custom they had quickly formed. Albus looked at her and chuckled. She had been very down throughout the whole evening.

Minerva looked up at him with the same woeful expression if not more sad. "Oh, come on Minerva, you will be back very soon it is not your last year and you are only leaving for a short span of time." He cajoled her trying to make her smile. "Really Albus, a month is hardly a short span of time, and well I am more in love with this castle than ever. I can hardly think of life without Hogwarts, so well, I do not feel particularly cheerful tonight." She sighed as she thought once again of the real reason behind her depressing mood. She had grown so accustomed to spending almost every evening with Albus, they had grown to be great friends and even though it was the only relation she could expect from him, she could not help but put her whole life into it. And spending a whole month without seeing him seemed like an unbearable thought. It had pained her greatly when he had said so casually that it was only a short span of time making it clear that he would not miss her and she had controlled her emotions very fast. But still the pain remained. She would miss him, life seemed absolutely miserable all of a sudden. "Minerva, my dear, are you all right? Please relax you will be back at Hogwarts even before you might get a chance to properly appreciate your holiday" Albus was looking at her with concern. Minerva merely nodded. The next morning as she got out of the castle to go to the station, she looked back for one last time. Seeing Albus, she offered him a small smile before turning and marching off at once, again a silent tear escaped her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Declaimer: I do not own them

Author's Notes: keep reviewing please!

The warm days of August seemed to crawl for Minerva, and September first seemed to be ages away when she received an Owl from Albus.

"_Dear Miss McGonagall,_

"_I trust that this letter finds you and your family well._

_From your recent letters, I discern that you have made steady progress in your exercises, although it has been a bit hard on you given the circumstances of your family but I am pleased with your evident grasp of Animagus-theory. I will be returning to Hogwarts in a few days to prepare for the start of classes, and hope that you will be able to join me there two or three weeks before the beginning of term so that we may conduct an evaluation and determine what next steps we should pursue. Please share this letter with your uncle and ask whether you might return to Hogwarts on the morning of Friday, August 13. I shall be happy to come and retrieve you and your luggage so as to minimize any inconvenience to you or your family. It has been, however, quite some time since I have visited the muggle world, and I would appreciate it if you were to kindly supplement my memory and forward Apparition co-ordinates to me. It would be most embarrassing to arrive splinched!_

"_With hopes of seeing you soon,_

"_I remain_  
"_Sincerely yours,_

"_Albus Dumbledore"_

Minerva jumped with joy seeing the letter. So this is what he had meant when he had said she was going away only for a short span of time. She felt so relieved and exhilarated. Quickly she reached for a parchment and sent off Eos giving the locations of her uncle's house and her permission. Minerva rolled her eyes, what did he think she would reply? That she could not come back when she had been dying too all the last two weeks? Shaking her head she set off to inform her uncle. Her uncle and aunt had become more understanding and comfortable in the past two years after her lecture before her first year to Hogwarts. She was sure they would be more than happy though to get rid of her faster than usual. As predicted they had been very happy with the news though her uncle had frowned and asked her if she would be in any danger, he had readily agreed once reassured.

Minerva had spent the Thursday night packing her trunk and getting everything in order for her to leave as soon as Albus arrived. She had read and re-read his letter quite a few times. Her feelings for Albus seemed to have grown and even though she had tried to get rid of them they stayed on stubbornly. At last she had decided that there was nothing wrong in liking someone like Albus, so she was more comfortable now with her own feelings, relaxing her a great deal. Albus arrived punctually the next morning at eight-thirty to find Minerva and her uncle and aunt waiting for him. At the crack of his Apparition, Minerva stood from her seat on the trunk. "Ah, all ready to go, I see, Miss McGonagall! And you must be Madam McGonagall! Albus Dumbledore at your service," he said as he bent over her aunt's outstretched hand and lightly brushed his lips against her knuckles in approved muggle fashion. "Miss McGonagall." Albus reached for Minerva's hand and repeated the gesture. Minerva blushed. No one had ever seriously kissed her hand in greeting before.

Albus simply shrunk the trunk and her dark brown carpet bag with a wave of his hand, cast lightening Charms on them, then picked them up and put them in his one of his pockets. He cast another wand less lightening Charm on the blue carpet bag and hefted it in his left hand. "Yes, that will do nicely, I think," he said. "So, Miss McGonagall, are you accompanying your luggage today, or will you follow on tomorrow?" he asked with a twinkle. "Oh, yes, of course." Minerva stepped a bit closer to her professor. "Now how are you with Side-Along-Apparition, my dear, any nausea or dizziness?" "Um, well I have never. . . ." Minerva had avoided thinking about the embarrassing prospect of vomiting all over her Albus' robes, although she had taken the precaution of having only ginger tea and dry toast that morning. "Well, let's see what we can do about that." He turned to Minerva and held up his wand "With your permission?" and raised an eyebrow in question, and she nodded quickly. Dumbledore passed his wand over Minerva's head and chest. Little blue, gold, and green symbols drifted gently from the wand. "Hmm, yes," he mumbled, gazing at the symbols, which were completely cryptic to the others. "Yes, I do believe we can compensate for the variance." His words were as incomprehensible to Minerva as the symbols had been.

Albus picked the blue carpet bag up again and motioned for Minerva to draw closer. "You'll need to stand a bit nearer than usual, Miss McGonagall, for this to work." She hesitated only slightly, thinking of what her uncle and aunt would think. She _really _didn't want to be sick all over Albus' beautiful robes. "Come now, a bit closer. Mm-hm, that's right. Now, with your permission, I will place my right arm around your shoulders. Good girl. Now, if you would like to help?" Dumbledore looked down at his protégé's upturned face. "Yes sir. But I don't know how to Apparate and even if I did, I am not of age." "No worries. I would like you to do two things. First, you may place your head against my chest and listen for my heartbeat. Second, envision, as clearly as you can, the front gates of Hogwarts, as though you were standing and facing them from the outside. After you have found my pulse and have the gates firmly fixed in your mind, just nod." Minerva did not hesitate to follow her professor's latest instructions. She stepped in closer to him, closed her eyes, and laid her head on his chest. She listened for his heartbeat, and could almost imagine that she could feel the thrum of his magical core behind it. That accomplished, she envisioned the front gates, in detail, the exercises she had been performing over the whole last year making it easy for her to create a crystal clear picture in her mind. She nodded against his chest. It seemed that as soon as she had nodded, he was speaking to her.

"Well done, Minerva! I hope you have not fallen asleep!" Albus chuckled at her expression when she lifted her head from his chest and saw that they were at the front gates of the castle. He dropped his arm from her shoulders, and she stepped away. "But I didn't feel anything but you!" Minerva exclaimed in wonderment. She had never in her life felt such a smooth movement and Side-Along-Apparition she had read was thought to be pretty unpleasant especially the first time. "I didn't even hear a crack!" Albus chuckled. "Oh, I only make a bit of noise so that people aren't disconcerted by my silent arrival or departure. I must apologize to your uncle and aunt next I see them. I ought to have given them some warning before popping off with their niece." "Oh, I'm sure they won't mind," Minerva said, reaching to take her carpet bag from her professor. Albus took his wand from a pocket and waved it at the gates, which opened to them. He would not relinquish Minerva's bag to her, though, saying, "What sort of gentleman would I be, to make a lady carry her own bags?" Minerva giggled a bit, but then expressed her concern about what other people might think of her if they saw. "Minerva, you would do well not to be overly concerned with the opinions of others. Although if we _are_ considering them, I do believe that if you were to carry your own bag, they would think, 'ah, poor Dumbledore, finally admitting he's old and decrepit and letting that sweet young lady carry her own bags,'" he teased.

Minerva laughed. She didn't think she ever laughed as much as she did when she was with Albus, whatever the seriousness of the subject at hand. She was very glad to be back with him at Hogwarts. "I truly doubt that anyone would think you _decrepit_, Albus. You have more energy than the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team, and I suppose that's saying something after our performance last year. No, they're probably looking on, thinking, 'ah, there's that snooty McGonagall girl, thinks she's so high-and-mighty she even gets her teacher to carry her bag for her.'" Minerva smiled when she said this, but there was a slight bitter edge to her words. "I don't believe that anyone who knows you could possibly believe that you are snooty or conceited, Minerva. You do not allow many people the privilege of getting to know you, however, and that is to their loss," Albus replied. Minerva said nothing in response, but cast a disbelieving look in her professor's direction. They were nearing the great front entrance to the castle, though, so she said, "Well, Albus, be that as it may, you will need to give me my bags soon since I will need to bring them to my room. Could you unshrink them first, though?"

They walked into the cool Entrance Hall. "Of course I could, my dear, but I was unaware you had left your wand at home. Perhaps we should return and fetch it," he suggested with a twinkle. "Of course I have my wand, Albus! I just wasn't sure I'd be allowed to use it." "Yes, those pesky Restrictions. Do not worry about them while you are here, Minerva. They are not in effect on Hogwarts' grounds. Besides, you are in my care for the next few days; you are my responsibility, and as a teacher at Hogwarts, I am qualified to supervise an underage witch's or wizard's wand use regardless of location or time of year." Minerva grinned. She didn't mind being in his care for a few days. Somehow it didn't seem as demeaning as being in the care of some other person. She pulled her wand from her pocket and, with a quickly restored the trunk and carpet bag that Albus had placed on the floor in front of her. Then she flicked her wand and levitated both carpet bags and the trunk.

Albus walked with her to the first floor, then bade her a good morning, asking that she come find him in his office when she had settled. Minerva was just about to run up the second flight of stairs when she turned to him. "Oh, Albus, the password to the dormitory, what is it?" "_Spero et expecto_, my dear, just until the first of September." Minerva smiled and fairly sprinted up the next few flights of stairs, which were co-operating with her for a change, and swinging into place before she reached them. By the time she'd reached the fifth floor, however, she was somewhat winded, despite her long, vigorous walks and exercises throughout last year, and she slowed to a more leisurely pace. As she continued her walk up to Gryffindor Tower, she considered her morning thus far, and shook her head in amazement. She would never cease to be in awe of Dumbledore's magical prowess, she thought. While she was aware that, in theory, silent Apparition was possible, she had never heard of anyone who could actually do it. On top of that, he had Apparated her so smoothly that she hadn't even noticed their arrival. It was as though she had been enveloped in a cocoon of warm Dumbledore-ness, was the only way she could think to describe it.

Of course, she wouldn't be describing it for anyone. If her friends asked, she would simply tell them that she hadn't gotten sick or dizzy. She blushed thinking of the way she had laid her head against his chest. Minerva was somewhat reserved with her expressions of physical affection and the action had reminded her of the way she felt about him. She always almost had to force herself to hug her friends' good-bye at the end of the year, knowing it was expected of her and that they would be hurt if she didn't. Yes, overall, Minerva was what she considered "selective" about whom she embraced and under what circumstances. She reached Gryffindor Tower and smiled happily at the Fat Lady, who was fanning herself with a bored expression on her face. "There you are, finally. Professor Dumbledore said to be expecting you. I do hope you won't be expecting my services at all hours. There are only a few days left before the students return, and I do like to get in as much visiting as possible before that." "I shall try not to be a bother, ma'am," replied Minerva politely. She felt it more than slightly ridiculous to have to be polite to a bit of enchanted oil and canvas, but she had seen the consequences suffered by other students who had insulted the Tower portrait.

"Password?" prompted the portrait. "_Spero et expecto_," Minerva responded. After making the final climb up to the dormitory room she normally shared with four other girls, Minerva began unpacking her bags. She thought again of their brief trip and blushed. She wasn't sure what she was blushing about. It hadn't _really_ been an embrace, after all and even if it had, it was not like she had never embraced him earlier. Albus had put his arm around her and she had leaned against him simply so that he could ease the Apparition for her. She hadn't even hesitated at the time, nor looked at her uncle and aunt. Minerva felt her face grow even warmer at the thought of her uncle and aunt looking on as she had put her head on his chest, closed her eyes, and listened for his heartbeat. Minerva began to shove her clothes into the wardrobe with a little more energy than strictly necessary. She would have to learn some good packing and unpacking Charms, she thought. She moved her trunk to the foot of her bed, shrunk the carpet bags and placed them in the bottom, then, with a quick wave of her wand, levitated her books to the shelves beside her wardrobe. She would worry about putting them in order after her meeting with Albus, she thought. Her stomach growled, and she wondered about meals and whether she would have to eat alone in the Gryffindor common room or something. That thought was unsettling.

Making a quick trip to the bathroom to use the loo and run a brush through her hair before returning it to its ponytail, she considered whether she should wear her school robes. She decided against it and, examining the pale blue robes she had put on that morning, thought that what she was wearing would be fine. She hadn't seen anyone else in the castle yet, and who knew when she would see anyone other than Albus. She did want to appear presentable for him, however. When Minerva entered his room, he was already settled down and waiting for her, quickly she landed herself onto her favorite chair and looked up at Albus expectantly.

Minerva and Albus reviewed her grasp of the reading she had done. She discerned no particular pattern to the questions he asked her, but he seemed pleased with her answers. Unlike other occasions on which they had discussed her reading, Albus did not ask her for her opinions of what she had read, nor did they engage in any speculative discussion. Minerva thought it felt far more like an examination, but she didn't mind. She was glad to be able to please him. After an hour or so, Minerva's stomach rumbled loudly. "Sounds as though someone is hungry," said Albus. "Perhaps this is a good point to stop for lunch." "I'm sorry, Albus. I can go a bit longer, if you like." "No, no need. Wispy!" he called. Wispy popped in immediately. "May Wispy serve Professor Dumbledore and his Miss?" "We are ready for lunch, now, Wispy." "Very good, Professor Dumbledore sir." Wispy popped back out. Albus stood, pushing his chair back and stretching. He motioned for Minerva to follow him, and he led her from the office and the classroom, closing the doors behind. Minerva could feel the wards shiver back into place.

"Albus, where are we going? Do we eat in the Great Hall?" Minerva tried to imagine eating in the cavernous room, alone with Albus, he at the high staff table, she down at Gryffindor table. "No. During the summer, if there is more than a few staff in residence, we do take our meals there, at a single table, but when there are very few, we generally eat lunch and dinner in the staff room. Most of the staff is taking these last few weeks off before term begins and will return by the end of next week. Normally, they are in residence the entire week prior to the start of term; however, Headmaster Dippet decided that a few extra days holiday would be appropriate under the circumstances." "Oh, I'm sorry, Albus! I'm interrupting your holiday!" "No, no, my dear," he said as they began down the stairs to the main floor. "It was my suggestion, in fact." he said enigmatically. As they reached the Entrance Hall, Minerva looked toward the Staff Room. Before she turned towards it, however, Wispy appeared with a small pop, a covered basket almost as large as she hovering above her. "I fix lunch for Professor Dumbledore and his Miss like Professor asks. I hopes lunch is good for the Professor and his Miss." "Thank you, Wispy. I am sure we will enjoy it." Wispy popped away without another word from Albus, leaving the basket hovering in front of them.

"Well, Minerva, my dear, I hope you enjoy picnics!" "A picnic, Albus?" As many meals as she had eaten with Albus over the last few years, somehow she had never envisioned picnicking with him. "Of course. Picnics are fine." With that, the two set off out the doors of the castle and across the grounds. They did not stop by the large oak tree, as she had first anticipated, nor did they head toward the grassy lawn near the lake, where students often brought snacks and tossed bits of sandwich to the Squid. Instead, they turned toward the Forbidden Forest, passed the greenhouses, and then continued on until they were behind the castle, between the lake and the Forest. Minerva could just see a bit of the wall that surrounded the Hogwarts' grounds when they reached their intended picnic ground. "This will do nicely, I believe." Albus turned to the basket, which had floated genially behind them like a well-trained butler and, with a wave of his wand, unpacked it all at once. Everything must have been shrunk quite cleverly, thought Minerva, although she saw no evidence that anything was unshrinking as it popped out of the basket. Seeing Minerva's curious expression, Albus explained, "Spatial Charm, my dear, bigger on the inside than on the outside. Quite handy. I have a carpet bag like this, a gift of an old friend. She would appreciate this picnic basket, I believe."

When Albus was through, Minerva looked about in astonishment. She had grown up with little magic and not seen many things, but she couldn't even imagine that a single wizard could co-ordinate anything like this so quickly and easily. A large blanket was spread out on the ground, and several large pillows rested on two sides. Platters, plates, bowls, and utensils had arrayed themselves neatly upon the blanket, and a large pitcher of cold lemonade had settled down beside two glasses. A bouquet of wild flowers sat in a vase, adorning the very centre of the blanket. But, most astonishing of all, some kind of flowered settee with a canopy over it had appeared a few feet from their picnic spot. Albus smiled amusedly at Minerva's reaction. "I see that I shall have to speak to your uncle and aunt about widening your horizons. You have evidently not been on a picnic before!" "Albus!" Minerva restrained herself from rolling her eyes at her favorite professor. "It's just that it all popped out so fast and arranged itself. It didn't look as though you did anything. And that seat!" Minerva shook her head. "Ah, well, I cannot take all of the credit. The basket, after all, is very large, and Wispy packed it for us." Albus gestured toward the picnic blanket. "Please, Minerva, be my guest. Do not stand on ceremony. Have a seat and help yourself."

Albus sat down on one side of the blanket, settling himself on one of the large pillows, folding his legs in front of him. Minerva joined him, sitting on the edge of the blanket and leaning on a pillow. They spent several minutes selecting their food and eating, interrupted only by occasional exclamations of, "Did you try this? You must! It's delicious." When they finished Albus stood up Minerva smiled and stood, as well. Albus waved his wand, and everything began returning itself to the basket, with the exception of the lemonade, the blanket, and the settee – which Minerva wasn't sure, had come from the basket in the first place. Albus picked up his glass of lemonade and strolled over to the flowered seat. As he settled on it, Minerva noticed that it seemed to rock, or swing, with his movement. "Care to join me?" he asked. "A swing, Albus?" "A glider, my dear." Albus demonstrated the gentle back-and-forth motion of the seat. Minerva sat next to him, somewhat carefully. When she had settled into the seat, Albus waved his wand for several seconds, making a complicated pattern in the air, and leaving trails of red and gold. A rush of magic flowed across her. After it seemed almost moments though, Albus spoke up. "Well, I suppose we should be going back now; as much as I would like to sit here in a swing with a pretty girl, we do need to consult with Wispy about dinner." Minerva laughed, blushing a bit, and watched as Albus returned the remaining picnic items to the basket and vanished the glider seat. Together, they walked back up to the castle, not speaking, just enjoying the cool breeze blowing in off the lake.

"Albus, why do we need to consult Wispy about dinner? Don't the house-elves just serve it like normal?" Minerva asked as they approached the double oak doors leading to the Entrance Hall. "If we wish to eat this evening, we must consult Wispy. All of the other house-elves have been confined to the kitchen and other house-elf-appropriate places for the day; in addition, as we are the only residents of the castle until tomorrow morning when Headmaster Dippet will return and the week after next when the rest of the staff will begin trickling back from holiday, it seemed foolish to have the house-elves serve their normal dinner." "You mean we're the only people at the castle?" Minerva asked incredulously as they entered the cool entry way. "Is that exactly safe?" "Oh, yes, my dear, quite. We renewed the wards just a few weeks ago, and now I can tell Wispy that the other house-elves have the freedom of the castle again." "It's just, just, well, creepy, Albus, this huge empty castle, and just the two of us and the Hogwarts house-elves."

Albus stopped midway up the stairs, and turned to Minerva, who had been walking up beside him. "I am sorry, Minerva. I had not thought. I am so used to so many things that I have forgotten, perhaps, what it might be like for you," he said gently. "If you would like to return to your uncle and aunt for the night, or even for the rest of the weekend, I would be happy to escort you there after dinner – or sooner, if you are bothered." "No, no!" Minerva did not want to have to go home like a little girl who had cried when left with her family friends for a few hours. "I didn't mean it like that. I want to stay. Really, Albus." "Are you sure, my dear?" asked Albus, still not moving from the stair on which he had stopped. "Would you feel more comfortable if Wispy stayed with us during dinner? She could even spend the night in your room, if you like." Minerva suddenly understood Albus' concern. "Oh, no, that would be even weirder. I don't mind it if _you're_ here, Albus, rather your presence only makes it less creepy. What I mean is, it wouldn't matter where we were, I'd feel safe if you were with me. Even if we were in the middle of an army camp," she said. "Hush, now, don't even think such things," responded Albus. "All I'm saying is that it's just the _castle_ that bothers me, not being here with you. In fact, if I had to be alone in the castle with a bunch of house-elves, I'd rather you be with me than anyone else." Minerva felt slightly embarrassed at the sentiment she expressed, but she didn't want him to feel uncomfortable being alone with her, either.

Albus started back up the stairs to the Transfiguration classroom. "Well, that's settled, then. I don't think I had ever been at Hogwarts when it was this empty until after I'd come here to teach. I stayed over Christmas holidays one year, and there were only three students staying in Gryffindor Tower, but that was practically crowded, compared to our current, though highly temporary, situation." "Albus, what about the ghosts? What I mean is, does Headmaster Dippet have everyone leave the castle and grounds in the holidays, and the house-elves were confined – although I don't understand why; I thought they had to be loyal to their House or family – what did you do with the ghosts? And what about the portraits?"

Albus chuckled as he let them into the classroom. "My, I suppose that after hours of listening to me talk, and saying so little, the urge to ask questions has asserted itself again. Well, the ghosts have willingly bound themselves to the wards and its Keeper, with the exception of Peeves – who, it turns out, is one of the unintended by-products of those 17th century wards meant to keep the children in check – and the portrait network is also tied into them. Although you may have noticed a distinct lack of portraits in our picnic area! The elves, although bound to be loyal to Hogwarts, can interpret that loyalty in whatever way they wish. They do have their own internal structure for dealing with miscreants," Minerva thought of Wispy's discipline when he said this, "but I thought it best to take the added security measure of eliminating the possibility of being overheard by them, or the portraits, which, although a _part_ of the ward structure, are not completely _controlled_ by it. Does that answer all your questions?" he asked with a slight smile.

"Yes, but why is Wispy free?" "Do not let her hear you say that she is free, my dear, although she has the freedom of the castle, of course. It is because she is a Dumbledore house-elf; she has a deep-seated loyalty to me personally, not just to the school and its ever-changing population. Besides, she packs a lovely picnic basket!" Minerva smiled broadly at that. "Well, Minerva, why don't you avail yourself of the washroom? I will ask Wispy about dinner. Do you have anything you'd particularly care for? No?" Through the closed door of the loo, Minerva could just hear Dumbledore speaking in low tones to Wispy, presumably releasing the other elves from their confinement – they must have been driven to distraction without being able to "serve" – and ordering dinner. She walked out of the office just as Wispy Apparated away with a gentle crack. "I have ordered a light supper for us. I hope that suits you. If you are hungry later, or anytime this weekend, call Wispy, and she will be at your service." "Thank you, Albus." "I also had an idea that I spoke with Wispy about. If it meets with your approval, she can make the arrangements necessary. As Deputy Headmaster, and, of course, in my other roles here at Hogwarts, I have somewhat grander quarters than most of the other teachers. They include a small guest room with its own loo and a separate entrance to the corridor. If you would feel more comfortable there than in the Gryffindor Tower, you are welcome to make use of it for the nights before the end of the holidays. There is no bath, only a somewhat cramped shower, but it is at your disposal," Albus finished.

"That's very generous of you, Albus, but I don't want to disturb you, or have Wispy go to extra trouble." "You know that Wispy would be glad to serve, as would I. Please stay wherever you feel most comfortable. I would suggest the library, but my recollection is that one's slumber is never particularly restful there." Albus grinned at her. "I really don't know. I _am_ used to my room in Gryffindor Tower, but, well, I hate to admit it, it sounds so childish, but it feels different when there's no one else there. Can we eat supper first, before I decide?" "Of course; and I understand. Why don't we stop by the guest room on the way to Gryffindor Tower, that way you can see it and decide then?" Wispy appeared with their supper at that moment, which consisted of some kind of pickled fish, bread, cheese, tomatoes, a bowl of grapes, and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. Minerva thought she'd avoid the fish, as it looked rather disgusting, but Albus helped himself to it and ate it with such a relish, that she tried a little and decided it wasn't too bad, but she wasn't going to be calling Wispy for more.

After finishing their meal, Albus walked with her along the first floor corridor to one of the narrow flights of stairs she'd always thought led nowhere, which they climbed upward past several landings, until they reached one that opened onto a wide corridor. Finally, they turned into a narrower hallway with large windows along one side and several portraits along the other. Stopping at the third portrait, Albus clearly said, "Chocolate Frog," and the portrait and the door it was guarding swung open. "'Chocolate frog,' Albus?" "Mmm, a lovely sweet wouldn't you agree my dear? I happen to remember for one your tendency to collect the cards." With that explanation, he gestured for her to enter.

The room was almost a precise square, which was quite surprising for any room at Hogwarts. There were two windows along the opposite wall, with a typical Hogwarts four-poster bed between them. There was a small desk along the wall to the right and a wardrobe across from it. Each of the two side walls featured a door. Albus stepped in behind her and opened the door on the left, showing her a small but efficient bathroom, with toilet, shower, and sink. He went to the door opposite the bathroom, and explained to Minerva that it led to his sitting room and that his bedroom was beyond that. He opened that door for her, and she peeked through to see what appeared to be a combination study and sitting room decorated in deep burgundy, moss green, gold, and cream, and furnished with a desk, a few chairs, a couch, a small table, and a fireplace. Along the walls were bookcases; they even stood in front of the windows, blocking out what light was left in the evening sky. There were also stacks of books and parchment everywhere, although they were in neat piles, and it seemed that they had been placed in some kind of order.

"My bedroom is through the door on the other side of that rather crowded room," Albus said. "It would only be for the nights, but if you suddenly needed me, I would be close at hand. Of course, if you stay in Gryffindor Tower, you can always call Wispy, and she will come." Minerva was torn. On the one hand, she didn't want to seem a little girl who couldn't spend the nights alone in the dormitory. On the other, she thought she would feel a little more at home in the small bedroom next door to the comfortable, Dumbledorish mess. On the third hand, if she had a third, she was used to the Tower room, but on the fourth hand, she felt honored that he would allow her to stay in his guest room. "Well, do you mind if I fetch a few things, then if it's really all right for me to stay here?" "Of course, come, we will walk to Gryffindor Tower together; and then you won't have any trouble finding your way back. After you're settled in, we can have some tea, and you can tell me your experience this summer. Shortly thereafter, he managed to convince her to retire for the night, pointing out that yawning three times in as many minutes was probably an indication that she needed her sleep. He reminded her that he was just one room away and that she could call Wispy at any time.

Minerva didn't really remember falling asleep that night, and when she awoke, it was bright morning and Wispy was calling her name. "Miss Minerva, Professor's Miss! Wake up! It is time for Miss to have breakfast." When she saw Minerva stirring, Wispy popped away. Minerva sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed, then padded into the little bathroom to wash up and use the toilet. As she dressed, she wondered where she was supposed to go to have breakfast, and was just buckling her shoes when she heard a rap on the door that led to Dumbledore's sitting room. "Yes?" she called. "Albus, is that you? You may come in. Wispy woke me up a while ago." The door opened, revealing Albus Dumbledore, who apparently was not at his best first thing in the morning. He was wearing long brocade and satin dressing gown over what appeared to be a long night shirt, and his feet were clad in peculiar fuzzy slippers with wiggling ears.

"Good morning, Minerva. I haven't dressed yet, as you can plainly see, but I wanted to let you know that when you are ready for breakfast, you can just come into the study and call for Wispy. I will join you when I am more properly attired." "Thank you, Albus." After they had eaten breakfast, Minerva packed up the few things she'd brought from her dormitory the night before into a small bag, tidying the room. When she stepped into the study to tell Albus that she was returning to the tower for the day, and to ask if he wanted to meet with her later that day, he was engrossed in what looked like Arithmantic calculations, but with symbols she had never seen used before. On her way back up her dormitory, which was surprisingly close to Professor Dumbledore's rooms, she did not encounter anyone; she gave the password to the Fat Lady's portrait and entered the common room. In the middle of the day, having just run into the medi witch who seemed the only other person back apart from themselves, Minerva had a nice breakfast with Albus. She did not find the empty Gryffindor Tower at all creepy or weird in the morning though and settled down with a book, luxuriating in the peace and quiet.

Thus, Minerva spent the three weeks before the rest of the students arrived back at the castle Monday evening, reading, thinking, and having tutorials with Albus. Taking lunch and dinner at the round table in the Great Hall wasn't nearly as strange as she'd thought it would be, and she enjoyed talking with the different teachers who arrived a week and a half later, although she always preferred to sit by her Head of House. At the Welcoming Feast, when other students, asked her why she hadn't been on the train, she explained, "Family business," in such a tone as to forestall any questions, even from her friends. The new school year started, but to Minerva, it felt anticlimactic after her long conversation with Dumbledore about her animagus training. And so the weeks went by, and late summer faded as cold autumn winds blew in off the lake, and the days grew shorter. When Minerva's birthday came, Albus gave her a book, a very old copy of_ The Book of Taliesin_, saying "Felicitations, Miss McGonagall!"

It was clear that the volume he gave her had at one point been comprised of separate parchments that had later been cut apart and sewn together into its current form. Looking through it, Minerva recognized that there were poems there that she had never seen before, and others that she _did_ expect to see were not there. Her Welsh was very rusty, Minerva having studied it before she came to Hogwarts, but not having used it much since. She got the feeling, holding and examining the book, that this was not something one could pick up in Flourish & Botts for any price. "Albus," Minerva said slowly, "where did you get this? It's _very_ old. . . ." "It was in my grandfather's library, and in his grandfather's library, and as far as I remember being told, in his grandfather's grandfather's library, as well. You needn't worry its not stolen," he teased. "It's not that," Minerva said, gently closing the book, "it's that I don't think I can accept it." "Minerva, I will be very disappointed if you don't. I wanted to give you something special; you have been working so hard to achieve such fleets at your age, and you have also been working very hard to achieve a part of the Art that Taliesin is said to have attained with no effort. You deserve to receive something special to acknowledge that hard work. It seemed that this book would find a good and worthy home with you."After that speech, Minerva could not refuse the gift, but she did keep it wrapped and in a locked, warded drawer in her wardrobe, only taking it out to look at when no one else was present.

"Oh come on, Minerva. I know you're dying to get this year going. I can't believe we're going to give our OWLS the next year. School is going by so quickly." Sally looked at Minerva smiling. Ro and Poppy were staring at her curiously "How's your brother?" Minerva asked after a pause knowing she was trying to cover up her worry. Sally had been thinking about her brother a lot lately. Because she was muggle-born her brother was not a wizard. He just had his nineteenth birthday making his age seem five years older than hers, however she would be fifteen just after Minerva, on the ninth of October, making him only just over four years older really. He was a soldier in the British army and had recently been stationed in Dover, not allowing for much time to see his family who lived in Dublin. She pitied him, envied him and was scared for him, as well as being unimaginably proud of him. It was an unusual mixture of emotions and one that Sally was not entirely comfortable with.

"He's doing fine, I think," Sally told her friend, brushing a strand of her wispy, short, blonde hair out of her eyes. "Da got a letter from him the other day and he seems well enough but tired." "I can't even begin to imagine," responded Minerva sympathetically. The rest of the dinner passed by pleasantly enough, with little talking and much more thoughtfulness than usual. Jeff Connors and Terry Boots from Ravenclaw had joined Sally, Ro, Poppy and Minerva in their table. Jeff and Terry had only recently become good friends with Minerva and the other girls. Minerva had introduced Jeff and Terry after the budger incident to Sally, Ro and Poppy. Of course they already knew each other, but they did not become firm friends until the end of the third year. It was common knowledge that Sally thought Jeff was very good-looking. They all, including Sally, made a joke of it; she often called him 'Gorgeous Connors'. He had light brown hair that neatly swept from left to right across his forehead, large brown eyes that gleamed brilliantly when he smiled, and his skin was smooth as glass as well as being a wonderful creamy color. He was tall with a build that was not too muscular, and a huge attraction to many a Hogwarts student. Terry was quite different; his figure was lanky; he had dozens of freckles on his skinny face, a petite nose and small, bright blue eyes. Their height and their hair was the only similarity between them, only Terry's hair was jet black.

"So Connors, how's Dave?" Dave was the Connors family's winged-horse. It was an Aethonan – chestnut, and a creature that Sally was particularly fond of. She had seen Dave three times when she had visited Jeff over the years and adored him instantly. "He's fine," Jeff told her. "The Ministry sent us a letter telling is that we had to renew the Disillusionment Charm this summer. Dave got a bit annoyed at that but he's alright now; I think he's forgotten already." "I wish I saw him this summer," Sally said longingly. "Sorry I couldn't make it, but I don't get to see my brother very often and that was the week he was on leave." "Don't worry about it, Sally," Jeff said with a chuckle. "I told Dave you sent your love and gave him a piece of the carrot cake you made for us; he definitely appreciated it."

Ro turned to her left to Minerva, a question about Quidditch burning on her lips, but found a face that did not look as though it wanted to concentrate on anything but the words on the page before her in what, according to Sally, was a terrifyingly sizeable book. "Where in the world did that come from, Min?" Minerva glared at Ro. "Shut up, Ro. Don't call me Min." Minerva retorted. "Have you seen Dumbledore this evening?" Ro asked Minerva. "He seems a bit – I don't know – drained." "I know what you mean," Terry agreed, slipping into a seat opposite Poppy. "Last night at dinner he was definitely a notch down from his usual exuberance." Dumbledore sat on Professor Dippet's right side, quietly musing over what to have for his dinner. He seemed thinner that the last time she saw him and he lacked the energy he usually emanated. "Clearly nowhere relaxing," responded Minerva, now joining Ro in her perusal of their professor at the top table.

At that moment Dumbledore looked up and scanned the crowd of students, suddenly catching the four Gryffindor fourth years and two Ravenclaws watching him. He smiled towards them and touched his hand to the rim of his hat in polite greeting. Sally, Jeff, Terry and Poppy all looked back to their dinner, rather discomfited at being caught studying him, Ro lingered her look a little before dropping her gaze as well. However, Minerva's glance, Sally noticed, lingered a while longer, openly displaying her curiosity of the new appearance that had altered the impression of their transfiguration professor. He had been looking pretty haggard of late. He even missed classes and her training. She had been given much more freedom now in her training and it was almost drawing to a close, but his repeated absence from the classes did not make sense. Minerva was just a little worried for him.

Some weeks later, Minerva was sitting in the Transfiguration classroom late one evening. She had advanced in the exercises that she was able to practice without supervision, and was in the midst of one that required particularly intense concentration, when she was startled by the opening classroom door. She had the impression that she was trying to stand, when, suddenly, everything went black and cold. "Minerva, Minerva! Here, now, can you open your eyes, my dear?" Minerva slowly became aware that, although she had apparently fallen to the floor, she was being held in someone's warm, strong arms. She knew it was Albus calling to her, and she could tell by the feel of the arm around her shoulder, and from the slight aroma of lemon and chocolate wafting down, that it was he who held her. She knew she should open her eyes for him, but she was comfortable, and just wanted to stay there. Just stay there forever . . .

But he called again, "Minerva, Minerva, please, my dear, open your eyes. Now is not the time for sleep." Her eyes fluttered, and then she closed them again, relaxing even more deeply into his arms. "Don't want you to let go . . . ," she mumbled. "I won't let go, my dear, but you need to open your eyes for me. Open your eyes!" The last sounded like an irresistible command, and so Minerva obeyed. "Albus?" she whispered. "Yes, my dear. I am so sorry to have caused your accident. It seems that my entrance caused you to switch your magical focus from internal to external too quickly. It's not a common occurrence, but not unexpected, either. Rather like the magical equivalent of fainting when standing up too quickly if you haven't been eating right." "I don't faint," murmured Minerva blearily. "Now, don't close your eyes again just yet. That's right, just look up at me. That's good, Minerva, my dear . . . ."

Minerva scarcely heard any more of the reassuring words he said: she was aware only that she was resting across his lap, cradled in his left arm, head resting against his chest. She could feel his right hand gently stroking her forehead, long fingers softly stroking her temple then caressing her cheek, and, in the flickering candlelight, she saw his blue eyes, filled with concern, focused on her face, focused on her alone. But what she was most aware of was the beating of his heart, the thrumming of his magic, and the answering throb of her own pulsing life. Minerva wanted to stay in his arms forever, to have him hold her; to kiss him, to have him return her kiss. She felt the steady beat of her own heart increase, and the heat of her blood spread upward to fill her chest with an almost painful new passion. And then the heat spread throughout her body, heavy, flowing, swelling, throbbing, inexorable, filling her with a desire she'd never known before, but which, even in the haze of her acute awareness of him, she recognized.

Some part of Minerva was appalled at the unexpected arrival of these intense feelings for the wizard holding her, some part was ashamed, but the part of her that was melting into her professor's arms – that part of her never wanted to let him go, and never wanted to let go of the feelings being held engendered in her. Need, want, and desire bubbled through her. A giving, grasping, needing, embracing passion leapt in her chest. The passion rising up in her body and soul merged gladly with the love for him already in her heart. Unable to help herself, Minerva turned her face further towards him, not wanting to lose sight of his brilliant eyes, nor of his sensitive lips, but nonetheless wanting to bury her face in his warm beard and burrow closer to the beating heart that throbbed an echoing call to her own pulse.

Albus, unaware of the emotional turmoil his young Gryffindor was experiencing, continued stroking her forehead and caressing her cheek. "There, there, Minerva, you'll be all right soon. All will be well. There, there, stay awake for me, Minerva, my dear." She was _his_ dear, _his_ Minerva, some part of her thought mushily. And she would be his forever. Then, abruptly, awareness broke through her sweet content and assaulted the warmth that had settled in her soul. A cold, clenching, acute pain encircled her heart with a cruel realization. She was a student. She was _his_ student. That was _all_ she was, and all she could _ever_ be, whispered a voice within her. _He_ was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore: hero, renowned Alchemist, Deputy Headmaster, Head of Gryffindor House, and Transfiguration Master. _She_ was Minerva McGonagall, fourth-year Gryffindor Transfiguration student. Perhaps he valued her for herself; but there was no denying that what she was . . . well, that wasn't much at all.

She began to weep, almost silently, against him, tasting the salt of her tears on his beard as she opened her mouth to draw a gasping, choking breath. _It_ would never go away. It would _never_ go away. She knew that, as surely she knew that the sun rises in morning. _It_ was lodged in her, bound to her soul. As her tears continued to flow, hot and silent, Minerva knew that hers was not even to dream, _never_ even to dream. Never even to dream . . . . It had consumed her rapidly, completely, and left her with only a taunting glimpse of what she could never have. She would die of it, she was sure. Yes, she would die of it. Albus became alarmed when, instead of recovering within a few minutes of regaining consciousness after her magical accident, Minerva had begun weeping desperately into his chest. He called Wispy, whom he sent to the infirmary to inform the matron that he was bringing a student to see her. Minerva had been barely aware of the house-elf's arrival and her professor's instructions to her. After Wispy left, Minerva felt Albus lift her into his arms and stand.

"There, there, now, Minerva. I am going to take you to the infirmary. Don't worry, my dear, I shan't let go of you until we are there. And a little Disillusionment Charm and taking the backstairs will get us there a little more easily." Minerva felt the cold Disillusionment Charm run over her and then heard him utter a Notice-Me-Not Charm. "Now, you may know that the fire in my office is not on the internal Floo-Network – a deficiency that I will correct – so I will have to carry you all the way. Professor Gamp's office is closer than the infirmary, and she is on the Floo-Network, so we are going there first, all right, my dear?" Minerva could not nod or shake her head, nor agree or disagree with his proposal. She continued to weep against him as he carried her down the corridor, up a set of stairs, and then to Professor Gamp's office. Professor Gamp was not there, but Dumbledore let himself in.

"Now, my dear, I need to make a little fire and get some Floo-Powder. May I put you down in this chair then?" Minerva made no response and did not loosen her grip on his robes, nor turn her face from where it was nestled in his beard. "No? Well then, we shall both sit, since otherwise I might drop you! No need for a concussion, as well . . . ." Albus lowered himself into a little chair beside Gamp's fireplace, holding Minerva on his lap, and found his wand. "There we are. Now a little fire. I'm going to stand up again, Minerva, and we'll be going through the Floo to the infirmary. Madam Bell will have a look at you. You will feel much better soon, I'm sure." He summoned the little crock of Floo-Powder from the mantel and took a pinch of it before sending it back to its place. Lifting Minerva carefully, Albus stood, tossed the Floo-Powder into the fire, and stepped into it, saying, "Hospital wing!"

By the time Albus had carried her the length of the infirmary to one of the smaller private rooms, Minerva had stopped crying. She would not release her hold on him, however. She could hear the matron come huffing into the room as her professor was trying to lay her down on the bed. Minerva did not know why she wouldn't let go, really. It was partly shame. If she were to let go, she would have to look at him. She would have to meet his eyes. Even if he had no clue what she had been thinking, she was utterly embarrassed. Letting him go would also mean a complete return to the reality in which she was just Minerva McGonagall, fourth-year Gryffindor, and he was Albus Dumbledore, esteemed Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. "Professor Dumbledore! Your house-elf told me you were bringing in a student. I had to run up from the greenhouses, or I would have met you," the stout matron panted. "Now who have you got there? Just put her down on the bed."

"It seems that she does not understand what's going on, Madam Bell. I cannot get her to let go of my robes so that I can put her down. I have tried," Albus spoke softly. "It's Minerva McGonagall. She's had an accident. I think it was just magical syncope, but after she regained consciousness, she began to cry and wouldn't let me go. She only just stopped crying a few minutes ago. I have been worried." "Well, if you've been holding her like that the whole time, you must be getting tired! Here, Miss McGonagall, let go of Professor Dumbledore," she said loudly. "You are in the infirmary now. No need for concern. I need to check you over, Miss McGonagall." When Minerva made no movement to show that she heard and understood the matron's directions, Madam Bell decided on a different course. "You'll just have to hold on to her while I do the initial examination, Professor. Just have a seat on the bed. No not on the edge, man! Lean back against the pillows with her. We need to get her to relax. Hopefully once I've performed the initial examination, she'll return to her senses and lie back on her own. If she still clings to you like that after I'm done, we can give her a Calming Potion. Magical syncope can have some very odd effects, I remember from my studies, although I haven't run across them, myself. Were you there at the time?"

Dumbledore, reclining in the narrow hospital bed, one arm still around Minerva, replied, "Yes, I had just arrived. I think it was that which triggered the episode. She was doing an internal magical exercise, although I haven't been able to ask her which one it was. As I came through the door, she moved as if she were about to stand, but I don't think that she had ended her meditation yet and instead of standing, she fell to the floor. I was not fast enough to arrest her fall nor close enough to catch her." The mediwitch had her wand out and had begun passing it over Minerva's head. "Did you notice if she hit her head when she fell?" "No, although she must have. She seemed fine at first, a little groggy, perhaps, but she followed my directions when I told her to look at me and not fall asleep. But then, well, you can see . . . ." "You'll have to let her go now, Professor." "Hmm? Oh, right." Albus let his arm drop to his side.

Minerva was still leaning against him, fists holding onto his robes, face buried in his beard. She was thinking more clearly now, but that was worse than her previous muddled state-of-mind. She could feel the diagnostic spells tingle against her. Minerva sighed heavily. "Miss McGonagall, you will be fine," she heard the matron saying to her, "but I am going to give you a Calming Draught to help you along. Although I'm sure that Professor Dumbledore is a man of great patience and understanding, in order to do a thorough exam, I'll need you to feel comfortable enough to let go of him; I'd prefer to do the examination sooner rather than later. The potion will help you feel more comfortable. I'm going to fetch it now; I'll be back in two shakes." Turning to Dumbledore, she said, "It might help if you talk to her. I think she just had something of a shock and will be fine. She needs to feel secure, I think, which is why she won't let you go." Minerva heard the matron leave the room and close the door behind her. She was suddenly very aware that she was lying on a bed with Albus. Not only with him, but practically on top of him. Her legs were stretched out beside his, but she hadn't moved her head since he had picked her up in the classroom. She could still hear his heartbeat and feel his magic flowing through him, pulsing in time with his heart. Although this awareness sparked a slight physical thrill, it also made her even more embarrassed. She turned her face slightly and blinked against the sudden lamplight. "I'm sorry, Professor," she whispered.

"Ah, Minerva! There you are! No need to be sorry and what is this Professor business again my dear? Albus will do, we are still friends. You had an accident, a shock, Madam Bell says. Are you feeling a bit better, my dear?" Minerva nodded and loosened her grip on his robes. "I have a terrible headache, and if anyone ever died of embarrassment, I'd have a fatal case right now," she said. Albus smoothed her hair away from her face. "Everyone has accidents, Minerva, and everyone sheds a tear or two occasionally. You needn't be embarrassed." Minerva finally let go and pushed away from him. New tears sprang to her eyes as she left his warmth. Albus stood and helped Minerva lie back against the pillows. "Thank you," she whispered as he sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Do you want to talk about what happened? I am very sorry that I entered when I did, Minerva, and caused your accident." "It wasn't your fault, Albus. It just happened. You couldn't have prevented it." Minerva eyes were closed. She _did_ have a terrible headache, and the lights did seem bright, but she also couldn't bear to look at him yet. "I'm sorry I cried all over you. I probably made a mess of your beard and your robes." "A little salt water won't hurt; I'm sure, my dear. Do not concern yourself."

Madam Bell returned with the Calming Potion. "So our patient is feeling more like herself? You may still want the Calming Draught, though." At Minerva's nod, the matron helped her swallow the contents of a small vial. Albus had stood and moved away from the bed when the matron returned. "She said she has a bad headache, Madam Bell." "I shouldn't wonder. I have a headache potion, as well, but I want to wait to give her that one. If you would like, Professor Dumbledore, you may wait in the infirmary whilst I perform the examination. If not, I can let you know later how she is." "I'll wait." Minerva heard the door close behind her professor, and she cautiously opened her eyes.

"Lights a bit bright? I'll dim them a little for you, then. I took a quick look at your records, Miss McGonagall. You seem to be quite healthy, from what they say. You should recover quite well, so not to worry." The matron proceeded with various tests, at one point taking up her wrist and holding it, fingers at Minerva's pulse point. "There's still nothing like actually feeling a patient's pulse and magical flow, that's what I say," she declared as she let go of Minerva's wrist. "I'd like you to stay overnight. There is a gown in the drawer of the bedside stand that you may wear. Do you feel up to standing and putting it on yourself, or would you like my help?" At Minerva's assurance that she could get herself ready for bed, the matron continued, "I think that Professor Dumbledore was correct. You had a case of magical syncope, but it was complicated by whatever exercise you were doing. From the tests that I ran, it appears that you were magically and emotionally open, and the syncope created a sudden fluctuation of both. There must have been an environmental trigger, as well, that determined the particular manifestation of these emotions."

"So the feelings came from somewhere outside of me?" asked Minerva. "Oh, no, that's not what I meant. There was a void, a vacuum, created by your exercise, and the feelings that rushed in to fill it were likely triggered by something environmental, something external, but the feelings were not foreign; they came from within you, Miss McGonagall." "And you said something about being magically open, too?" "Yes; that is one reason you were unable to return to your senses as quickly as you might otherwise have. You were open to magical exhaustion because of the severity of the syncope; however, because of the protective wards that Hogwarts has, the magical drain was . . . how to put this . . . the magical drain was staunched. Hogwarts could not prevent your syncope, obviously, but, from what I understand, the wards use the intense magical field of the castle to ensure that students do not suffer the effects of a magical drain as much as they would if they were elsewhere. Of course, I'm new here, and I'm not particularly familiar with this kind of thing, but I understand that your Professor Dumbledore is an expert on it. He could probably explain the wards better than I. It _is_ curious, however . . ." Madam Bell hesitated. "I thought the protection of those wards extended to underage students, and I saw from your records that you are not of age."

After Minerva had asked a few more questions and been reassured that she could join her House for breakfast in the morning if she felt up to it, the matron left. Minerva lay back, somewhat drowsy from the headache potion and the Calming Draught. She could hear Albus' voice rumble as he spoke with Madam Bell. He had been so understanding. How could she ever look at him again? She wasn't sure she could continue her training. How could she? The thought of abandoning her Animagus training pained her. She wouldn't worry about that until tomorrow. Maybe _It_ would go away on Its own, if It were just an after effect of her accident. Of course, there was still her sense of shame, but since Albus was unaware of everything that embarrassed her, she might be able to overcome that.

Just as she was coming to those conclusions, Minerva heard a light knock and the door opened a crack. It was Albus. "Minerva?" he called quietly. "Yes, Albus, I'm awake." "May I come in?" "Of course." "Madam Bell said that you will be fine and we will probably be seeing you at breakfast in the morning." "I hope so." "I will stop by the Tower and let your roommates know that you are spending the night here so that they do not worry about you." Dumbledore stepped closer to the bed. "The matron told me what she believes happened. I am more sorry than ever, Minerva. If I have ever done anything that could have caused you such grief – " "It wasn't you, Albus. Believe me. It wasn't you. I really don't want to talk about it now, but I will tell you truthfully, Albus, that you have never done anything to cause me any grief." Minerva felt a lump in her throat. Only his very being. Only knowing him. He himself _did_ nothing, nothing except be himself. He could not be faulted for that.

"I was glad to hear from her that you were protected from a magical drain. Not that you couldn't have recovered from it, of course, particularly as your magic has been matured for a year or two now, but it is very uncomfortable – I speak from experience." "She thought it was the Hogwarts wards that protected me, but said she might be wrong about that, Professor. She said you would know better than she." Minerva really didn't want to discuss anything related to her accident, so she did not ask him about it. "Yes, she told me that, as well," replied Dumbledore. "Well, it has been a long evening for us both. Madam Bell said she would have a snack sent to you and you should eat it before you go to sleep. I am feeling rather peckish, myself, so I think I will have a bite to eat and retire early – unless you need something, my dear?" "No, nothing. Thank you, Albus. Good night." Minerva thought he was looking tired, but carrying a full-grown witch all over the castle was bound to be tiring. "Albus?" Minerva said, and Albus turned in the doorway. "Thank you for bringing me to the hospital wing . . . and everything else." She blushed. "Of course, Minerva. Good night, my dear. Sleep well – and be sure to eat your snack!"

The following morning, Minerva had felt physically recovered, but over the next days and weeks, she was emotionally labile. The intervening holidays gave her an excuse to take a break in her Animagus training. That excuse could not last. After the new term began in January, Professor Dumbledore had her stay after class one day. "Minerva tomorrow is Friday. Should I expect you for your tutorial? I understand that you had a very traumatic experience with the accident. But the Muggles have a saying that if you fall off your horse, you have to get right back in the saddle again. I thought that by giving you time last month to recover and not asking that you continue lessons before Christmas, I was doing you a favor. I now believe that may have been the wrong thing to do. "Although Minerva had no longer felt the acute anguish that had initially assaulted her as she lay weeping in Albus' arms, she had not been shake her embarrassment and shame until the last week. Worse yet, her intense desire and longing for him had refused to die. Sitting in his class, listening to his voice, feeling his magic brush past her if he walked by, all of those things brought a rush of blood which it shouldn't be. Minerva had been glad that she had already mastered the topics being covered in class; it was very difficult to pay proper attention under those conditions. Even seeing him up at the staff table during meals had brought a warm tingle rushing over her. How could she possibly have concentrated on her Animagus training when it was so hard even to be in the same room with him?

Now however she felt much more at ease. Minerva had been doing extra long walks and occlumency sessions the times when she had found it hard to control her emotions for him. It was during one of these sessions that reality had come down to her at last. She had been wrong when she had thought that she had a crush on Albus a few years back. It had not been a crush; she loved him with every fiber of her being. Though it had alarmed her at first when she had realized the truth, after another few exercises, she felt good as new, well almost. She had accepted the fact that her feelings for Albus could not be done away with as it had become an integrate part of her throughout her years in Hogwarts and they would have manifested themselves sometime or the other even without the accident. Then she had gone about organizing her thoughts. She had accepted that loving him had come naturally to her. How could she not feel admiration for him, knowing what he did for the good of the wizarding and Muggle worlds, and for Hogwarts? And how could she not see him as a human being, and a man, when she knew what he went through for the sake of others, for the way it affected him, and then admire him for it all the more now that he was a human being, rather than a seemingly-omnipotent adult. He was human, touched by the evil of the world, and yet still he continued to spend himself for others. Minerva's care, concern, and admiration for her professor had entwined with her childish love of him, creating a steady, trusting, generous, mature love long before that evening in the Transfiguration classroom.

Minerva flounced out of the portrait-hole with her book-bag and headed off to the Transfiguration classroom. Albus was there when she arrived, which pleased her greatly, although she was a little worried that he'd be too busy to have her use the classroom that morning. Instead, he suggested that they work on some of her Animagus exercises. In addition to the type that she had worked on over the summer, which were essentially a series of progressive exercises that helped focus the mind, the magic, or the physical energies of the practitioner – sometimes all three at once, although she hadn't advanced to those yet – there were other exercises in which the practitioner focused her mind on a particular quality of a particular animal and then used her wand to cast a transformative spell on one of her body parts, usually a hand or foot. It was a difficult spell since it was completely nonverbal, with no incantation even possible, and it required the caster to concentrate fully on both the essence of the particular animal and on the sensation of the body part in question.

Minerva had tried this twice before, in Albus' presence, and had rather lackluster results, she thought. The first time, she had focused on her left hand and on the quality of a squirrel's fur since that seemed simple to her and had managed only a smattering of silvery-grey hairs on the back of her hand. The second time, on the same occasion, she had removed her left shoe and sock, crossed her ankle somewhat indelicately over her right knee, and concentrated on a raven's claw. Those results, although Dumbledore had said they were positive, were more disastrous, to Minerva's mind. Instead of either turning into a raven's claw, which would have been a perfect result, or at least changing her foot black, or something normal like that, three of her toes sprouted extremely long, sharp toenails, which she was unable to get rid of, even after concentrating on what her foot should feel like. Professor Dumbledore had had to cast a spell to force her toenails to resume their normal shape and size.

So this Saturday morning, she sat in a chair in Professor Dumbledore's office, cleared her mind, and focused on her hand, then added to that the essence of a dog's paw, imagining vividly the forepaw of a border collie. She opened her eyes, raised her wand, and cast. To her immense disappointment, only a patch of dark, black fur had appeared on the back of her hand and down the length of her fingers. Impatiently, she waited for Professor Dumbledore to examine her hand, turning it this way and that, stroking the fur the wrong way, then peering at its roots, before she could wave her wand and reverse the spell. "Well, at least this time, I could reverse it," she said ruefully. He looked at her thoughtfully. "Explain to me exactly what you were concentrating on before you cast."

Minerva told him, in as much detail as she could manage her entire thought process prior to casting. She watched him as he walked in a slow circle, looking at apparently nothing. Suddenly, he turned and said, "Cast it on my hand, instead." "But how?" she protested. "The spell requires me to focus not just on the dog's paw, but on my hand, the way it feels, its bone, muscle, skin, blood, and so on. How am I supposed to cast it on you?" "It will require a variation on your focus, of course, but that should be a relatively simple matter. Your ability to focus your magic in empathy with other living creatures is excellent, Minerva. The exercises you have been practicing since the beginning of the summer have made that part easy for you, wouldn't you say?" "I suppose. I guess that's why this is so frustrating. Using an ordinary Trans-figurative spell, I can change my hand into a dog's paw and back again with no problem. And I did that last week, repeatedly, as you know. But I can't force my hand to transform itself into a dog's paw. I don't know why." Minerva sighed.

"That's why I would like you to perform the spell on my hand, first. We know it is not that you don't know what your hand feels like when it is a dog's paw since, as you pointed out, you've performed an ordinary Transfiguration on it. Clearly, you are also achieving some kind of internal magical effect that drew forth the fur just now, and which we could no doubt diagnose in detail, if we were so inclined, but I don't believe that such a diagnosis would aid you at this point." "But, Albus, _your_ hand isn't _my_ hand. I can't use an Animagus spell to transfigure it!" Minerva, in all her reading, had never heard of anything like that being done. "Ah, Minerva, but you can! I would perform it on you – and will, later, if you wish – but since you are trying to learn to cast, I would prefer you give it a try first." "I have no idea how," Minerva said, feeling slightly stubborn about it, mainly because she still didn't know what her Albus was getting at.

"As I said, your strength at the moment is your magical empathy. Although it may complicate things a bit to focus both on the dog's paw and on my hand, I believe that you will be able to. Once you have my hand fixed clearly, cast the dog's paw. Do not hesitate; the essence of the dog's paw is at your ready disposal, Minerva. Have faith that you do not need to linger over it. Simply cast." He held out his right hand to her. "Um, Albus, I'm not sure this is a good idea." Albus raised an eyebrow at her, but she continued. "I don't mean the idea as such; I meant casting it on your wand hand. I know you can use your wand with your left, but I would really prefer not . . . messing with your wand hand, if you know what I mean." Albus smiled and dutifully stretched out his left hand to her. She looked at it and hesitated. "Go ahead, Minerva, feel free! My hand is yours, at the moment," he said, grinning.

She smiled back, and took his hand in her own two smaller ones. She pushed the cuff of his robe back so that she could see the fine, well-proportioned wrist bones. She rested the palm of his hand in her left one while examining it with her right, running the tips of her fingers from his wrist across the back of his hand and down his long fingers. She held his hand closer to her face, seeing all the small, dry lines that mapped the back of his hand, and the short, fine hairs; then Minerva examined his clean, neatly trimmed fingernails, running a finger along those, as well. She could feel a warm, deep vibration coming from him that was clearly not physical, and she felt wonderment that his magic expressed itself so strongly when he was simply at rest in a chair. His hand still cradled in her left one, she moved her examination to his thumb, taking it in her right hand, scrutinizing it, pressing it in toward his hand, then extending it, then letting it lay at rest. She was just about to turn his hand over to examine the palm when, without thinking, she lightly stroked her index finger down the length of his thumb. Shaking herself mentally, she forced herself to return to her focus as she turned his hand over and explored his palm minutely. A strange, unbidden thought passed through her mind, of how pleasant it would be to sit and hold his hand, stroke his palm, and caress the sensitive tips of his fingers, not because of a Transfiguration exercise, but just because it was his hand and it felt nice. At that distracting thought, Minerva closed her eyes and forced her mind and her magic back to their proper focus.

Eyes shut; she held his left hand between her two palms for what seemed an eternity as she tried to absorb its nature. When she opened her eyes, she said, "Ready?" He simply smiled slightly and nodded, so she released his hand, picked up her wand, and with the knowledge of his hand fixed firmly in her mind, she quickly called up the collie's paw and cast.

Albus' hand shivered a moment, like a mirage in the desert, and then it slowly seemed to darken and melt. For a brief second, Minerva was alarmed, but before she could even register her own sense of panic, before her lay a perfect example of a border collie's paw. True, it was larger than usual since it seemed that it had taken on the size of Albus's hand, but it was perfect. Almost tossing her wand down on the desk, she reached over and grabbed Albus's hand, or paw. Feeling that suddenly snatching up her professor's hand was rude, she apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry, Albus! I wasn't thinking – may I? Does it hurt? What does it feel like? Did it hurt when it changed?"

"Of course you may, and no, it doesn't hurt. It feels much as I remember a dog's paw feeling the last time I did such an exercise. No, the Transfiguration didn't hurt, precisely, although it was more uncomfortable than when one casts the spell on oneself. And may I take this opportunity to say, 'Well done, Minerva'?" Minerva was thrilled. It was a long way from her Animagus transformation, and she had yet to be able to perform the spell on herself, but it was a major success. Dumbledore called Wispy and had her bring a pitcher of pumpkin juice and a plate of shortbread to celebrate. As she munched on her biscuit, Minerva thought of something. "Albus, I was wondering a few things." "That comes as such a surprise, Minerva! I didn't think you had a curious bone in your body!" he teased. Minerva just smiled, shook her head at him indulgently, and continued with her questions. "Well, first, why don't they mention this technique in any of the books I've read – even in yours? Second, if I can change your hand into a paw, and I can, eventually, turn my hand into a paw, why can't I change my hand into your hand, and then just, well, turn myself into you? No Polyjuice needed!"

"Ah, Minerva, I believe that you will find part of the answer to your first question there in your final statement. I do believe that attempting to transfigure oneself into the likeness of another human being might be possible – it would certainly be possible to transfigure certain aspects, such as the hand – but such a Transfiguration might have unwanted side effects, upon which one may only speculate. But even were there no side effects, the practical consequences of being able to transfigure oneself into the likeness of another human being without the use of Polyjuice could be quite negative. Also, remember that whomever you wished to transfigure yourself into would have to be someone whom you knew intimately. It is one thing to Transfigure a hand, or even a face, but to Transfigure an entire body – well, it seems unlikely that anyone would wish to Transfigure themselves into someone they know that well by happenstance, and more unlikely still that someone they didn't know well would allow them to gain familiarity sufficient to enable such a Transfiguration. Not to mention that most practitioners . . . ."

Dumbledore went on, discussing the practical, ethical, and magical implications of human-to-human internal Transfiguration, and the differences between an Animagus and a Metamorphmagus, and how both were different still from the kind of Transfiguration they were discussing, but Minerva's mind had already stopped at his words, "whomever you wished to Transfigure yourself into would have to be someone whom you knew intimately. It is one thing to Transfigure a hand, or even a face, but to Transfigure an entire body . . . ." She thought of her minute exploration of her professor's hand – a hand that she already knew well after two years studying with him. Minerva halted herself from pursuing that thought any further and turned her attention back to what Albus was saying just in time to hear the words, "Dark Magic."

"I'm sorry, Albus, I don't think I caught what you just said, what was that about Dark Magic?" "Just that some people would classify what you just did as Dark, although it is not officially labeled so." "I'm afraid my mind wandered a bit, why do people think its Dark? I mean, anyone from about the third year up can cast a spell that will transfigure someone's hand into a paw of some kind." "I see that the excitement of success has distracted you, my dear. As I said a moment ago, it is not the _effect_ of the Transfiguration," Albus scratched the fur on the back of his paw, "it is the manner in which it is achieved. You forced an internal or _essential_ Transfiguration upon another person – in a sense; you made my hand your own first, and then forced it to transfigure itself from the inside out." "What? I didn't feel as though I was forcing anything –" Minerva stammered.

"'Force' only in the sense of having my hand, the cells of my body, do something that is against their nature – rather like forcing crocus bulbs indoors. And as for the other sense of the word, you might be able to force such a Transfiguration on a Muggle against his will, but to do it on a conscious, aware wizard would require a great deal more power than you expended in your effort here – although I do notice you ate the last of the shortbread without any trouble!" "So someone could force such a Transfiguration on someone else against their will only if they used much more magical energy than I did with your hand just now?" "Yes; so you see that using an ordinary Transfiguration spell is a far easier way to turn your friend's hand into a paw! Of course, doing that requires an incantation, and to perform it nonverbally would take practice. Speaking of turning a friend's hand into a paw, do you suppose you could," Albus said, gesturing at his paw with his right hand.

"Of course, Albus!" Embarrassed that she hadn't thought of it earlier, especially when he kept scratching his fur, Minerva picked up her wand, concentrated on his hand as a hand, prepared to cast, and then hesitated. "Minerva?" "I'm sorry, Albus, it's just that I'm more nervous about this than I was about performing the Transfiguration in the first place. Supposing I do it wrong?" "Don't worry about it, just cast away – rest assured that my hand very much wants to be a hand again and will give you its full cooperation!" Minerva didn't even smile at that, but furrowed her brow in concentration, and then cast as quickly and forcefully as she could, before she could become nervous again. This time there was a smooth transition, as the fur rapidly disappeared, the fingers elongated, the palm widened, and his hand reappeared.

Albus flexed his fingers, and said, "Very good, Minerva." "May I see? Is it really all right?" "Yes, my dear, of course. And it certainly feels fine. In fact, I do believe my fingers feel more limber than usual." Albus smiled at her. Minerva took his hand, and in contrast to the painstaking examination she had performed before, simply held it, turned it over, and then bent his fingers forward and back again. Letting go, she declared, "Well, at least you don't seem any the worse for it! Was it as uncomfortable as the initial change?" she asked. "It looked like it went more smoothly." "No, it wasn't; in fact, although such a thing always feels peculiar, particularly when the spell is cast by someone else, I barely noticed anything beyond a kind of odd stretching and rolling. You did very well, indeed. I believe you will have greater success the next time you attempt it on your own hand. However, we have already missed lunch. Perhaps we could meet tomorrow afternoon, just before dinner, and resume."

Minerva was aglow from her success with the Transfiguration exercise and the prospect of another tutorial with Albus the next day. After dinner – during which she spent more time than usual just talking with her friends – she retired to bed early to reread _Emergent Creature_ again. Minerva was as relaxed that evening as ever she had been. The rest of the term flew away at almost the blink of an eye and by the end of the year she had even successfully transformed into a tabby cat earning herself the affectionate nickname of Tabby from Albus. Despite the full and enriching year, Minerva felt something more than just sadness as she packed for her holidays. Albus had been away from Hogwarts on more than one occasion again and every time had returned looking more haggard. She had been unable to ask for a cause given they did not need to meet too often now after classes as she had finished her training and also her dueling lessons. Sally had been very down as well which added to her misery. With a heavy heart, Minerva at last made her way away from her castle for the holidays.


	6. Chapter 6

Declaimer:I do not own them

Author's Notes: I love reviews and well she has 2 more years in hogwarts left...as I said it is long almost their full life

Sally rushed through the wall between platforms 9 and 10 on the first of September 1942. It was the middle of the war and everyone in London was nervous and mistrustful. She was glad when she stepped onto platform 9 ¾ amidst the bustle of Hogwarts students and their parents hurrying them onto the train. Sally cast her round blue eyes around for her companion of five years at Hogwarts and looking to her left spotted her neat, dark hair disappearing into one of the carriages. With a smile she tugged her suitcase to her side and made her way towards the carriage she knew now held her friend. "In here, Sally," she heard Minerva call, and she looked to her right seeing her friend shoving her suitcase roughly into the overhanging baggage rack. She soon settled down with the rest of her friends. "Hey, ready for your OWLS?" Sally said excitedly, her Irish twang ringing through their compartment. "Then again, that's probably a question I know your answer to." Sally grinned at her friends, watching as Minerva's sharp features remained impassive. Ro looked dolefully at her while Poppy just nodded noncommittally.

"How's your brother?" Minerva asked after a pause as they sorted themselves and their luggage out and sat down comfortably. "He's doing fine, I think," Sally told her friend, brushing a strand of her wispy, short, blonde hair out of her eyes the sort she always did to hide her concern. The rest of the journey, passed by pleasantly with little drama and much chatter and merriment. Jeff Connors and Terry Boots had joined Minerva and her friends in their compartment, bringing with them handfuls of pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes that they had just bought from the lady with the trolley full of food to share with the girls. Minerva and Terry were required to slip out of their compartment occasionally to tend to their newly appointed prefect duties, leaving Sally, Ro, Poppy and Jeff to catch up on their summer activities. Jeff and Sally continued their journey with their usual playful banter while Ro and Poppy were immersed in a deep talk about Quidditch. Minerva and Blake soon joined them, looking slightly harassed but happy. As the train neared Hogwarts they changed into their robes and waited with anticipation as Hogsmeade Station loomed nearer. Almost everybody these days could see the Thestrals, which in Sally's mind was disturbing and heart-breaking. She, Minerva, Ro, Poppy, Terry and Jeff clambered into a carriage that took them on their journey to the castle.

It had started to rain as they made their way up the sloping path towards Hogwarts and an outright downpour commenced as the foursome exited their carriage and clambered up the steps towards the entrance hall, all feeling rather sympathetic towards the new first years now sailing over the lake. Relieved to be in the cozy warmth and dry of the entrance hall, the group made their way to the right and into the Great Hall. They sat down at their house table, eager to remind themselves of the taste of the spectacular food they had greatly missed for the entire summer.

The wait for the first years seemed longer than usual and Ro's stomach growled loudly at her. "Patience, my pet," she said stroking it, causing Sally and Poppy, who sat opposite, to grin. Minerva though did not even look up. Her eyes were glued to a book now on her lap."Where in the world did that come from, Min?" Ro asked aghast. Minerva glanced back down at her book. "I had it in my pocket." Ro silently stared at her friend until Minerva offered a sentence that held more clarity. "I shrank it so it fit." Minerva stated nonchalantly. "Crikey, Minerva! You-" but Ro was interrupted by the opening of the Great Hall doors. Professor Spurge, the Herbology professor and also Sally's favorite teacher came bouncing through them. He was followed in huge contrast by a large group of terrified, squashed-together first years. It was the same every year and the recurrence was why Ro found it hilarious. With Minerva, however, it always went by unnoticed.

"Settle down," said Slughorn genially, shutting the door behind him. There was no real need for the call to order; the moment the class had heard the door close, quiet had fallen and all fidgeting stopped. The mere presence of the OWLS over their heads was enough to ensure a class's silence. "Before we begin today's lesson," said Slughorn, sweeping over to his desk and staring around at them all, "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Average though some of this class undoubtedly is, I expect you to scrape an "Acceptable" in your OWL." His gaze lingered this time on a few of the more quirky students, who gulped. "After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," Slughorn went on. "I take only the anyone with over an exceeds expectations into my NEWT Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly not be saying goodbye." His eyes rested on Minerva and Poppy and his lip curled slightly. Minerva glared at the floor not wanting his attention at all. "But we have another year to go before that unhappy moment of farewell," said Slughorn softly, "so, whether or not you are intending to attempt NEWT, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high pass level I have come to expect from my OWL students.

Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing." On Minerva's left, Poppy sat up a little straighter, her expression one of utmost attention. The ingredients and method -" Slughorn flicked his wand "- are on the blackboard -" (they appeared there) "- you will find everything you need -" he flicked his wand again "- in the store cupboard -" (the door of the said cupboard sprang open) "- you have an hour and a half: start." Just as Ro had predicted, Slughorn could hardly have set them a more difficult, fiddly potion. The ingredients had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times, firstly in clockwise, then in anti-clockwise directions; the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added.

"A light silver vapor should now be rising from your potion," called Slughorn, with ten minutes left to go. Ro, who was sweating profusely, looked desperately around the dungeon. Her cauldron was issuing copious amounts of dark grey steam, spitting green sparks. Terry was feverishly prodding the flames at the base of his cauldron with the tip of his wand, as they seemed to be going out. The surface of Minerva and Poppy's potion, however, were a shimmering mist of silver vapor, and as Slughorn swept by he looked down his round face breaking into a smile at his favorite students. At Ro's cauldron, however, Slughorn stopped, and looked down at it with a horrified look on his face. "Miss Hooch, what is this supposed to be?" he asked looking aghast. The Draught of Peace," said Ro tensely. "Tell me, Miss Hooch, have you read the instructions properly?" asked Slughorn softly, trying to understand the bleak condition of her potion. "Yes, well I did," said Ro, her fingers clenched tightly together."Read the third line of the instructions again Miss Hooch and please be more careful next time." Ro squinted at the blackboard; it was not easy to make out the instructions through the haze of multicolored steam now filling the dungeon.

"Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counter-clockwise, and allow simmering for seven minutes then adding two drops of syrup of hellebore." Her heart sank. She had not added syrup of hellebore, but had proceeded straight to the fourth line of the instructions after allowing his potion to simmer for seven minutes. "Did you do even read the line Ro?" Minerva asked tersely. "No," said Ro very quietly. They were interrupted by Slughorn's booming voice "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday." While everyone around her filled their flagons, Minerva cleared away their things. Ro's potion was now giving off a foul odor of bad eggs. She stuffed her wand back into her pocket and slumped down on to his seat, watching everyone else march up to Slughorn's desk with filled and corked flagons. When at long last the bell rang, Minerva and her three friends tugged up the dungeon stairs.

After Potions, Divination was Minerva's least favorite class, which was due mainly to the fact that she did not believe in divination. A thin woman heavily draped in shawls and glittering with strings of beads taught the lessons; she always reminded Minerva of some kind of insect, with her glasses hugely magnifying her eyes. She was busy putting copies of battered leather-bound books on each of the spindly little tables with which her room was littered when Minerva entered the room, but the light cast by the lamps covered by scarves and the low-burning, sickly-scented fire was so dim she appeared not to notice her as she took a seat in the shadows. The rest of the class arrived over the next five minutes. Ro, Poppy and Sally emerged from the trapdoor, looked around carefully, spotted Minerva and made directly for her, or as directly as they could while having to wend their way between tables, chairs and overstuffed puffers.

"Good-day," said Professor Trelawney in her usual misty, dreamy voice "and welcome back to Divination. I have, of course, been following your fortunes most carefully over the holidays, and am delighted to see that you have all returned to Hogwarts safely - as, of course, I knew you would. "You will find on the tables before you copies of The Dream Oracle, by Inigo Imago. Dream interpretation is a most important means of divining the future and one that may very probably be tested in your OWL. Not, of course, that I believe examination passes or failures are of the remotest importance when it comes to the sacred art of divination. If you have the Seeing Eye, certificates and grades matter very little. However, the Headmaster likes you to sit the examination, so:" Her voice trailed away delicately, leaving them all in no doubt that Professor Trelawney considered her subject above such sordid matters as examinations. "Turn, please, to the introduction and read what Imago has to say on the matter of dream interpretation. Then, divide into pairs. Use The Dream Oracle to interpret each other's most recent dreams. Carry on."

The one good thing to be said for this lesson was that it was not a double period. By the time they had all finished reading the introduction of the book, they had barely ten minutes left for dream interpretation. At the table next to Minerva and her friends, Jeff had paired up with Terry, who immediately embarked on a long-winded explanation of a nightmare involving a pair of giant scissors wearing his grandmother's best hat; Minerva and her friends looked at each other glumly. "I never remember my dreams," said Ro, "you say one." "You must remember one of them," said Minerva impatiently. She was not going to share her dreams with anyone. "Well, I dreamed I was playing Quidditch the other night," said Ro, screwing up her face in an effort to remember. "What dye reckons that means?" "Probably that you're going to be eaten by a giant marshmallow or something," said Poppy, turning the pages of The Dream Oracle without interest. It was very dull work looking up bits of dreams in the Oracle and Minerva was not cheered up when Professor Trelawney set them the task of keeping a dream diary for a month as homework. When the bell went, she and her friends led the way back down the ladder, Ro grumbling loudly. "D'you realize how much homework we've got already? Binns set us a foot-and-a-half-long essay on giant wars, Slughorn wants a foot on the use of moonstones, and now we've got a month's dream diary from Trelawney!" she continued.

The term was flowing by for Minerva and her friends. She shook her head in frustration as she entered the classroom for the transfiguration lesson. Albus was missing again and without any explanation. She had been unable to see her professor privately since her arrival hence it did not make it easy for her to know his whereabouts. Albus Dumbledore; a man she loved for who he was rather than the position he held in the society, the man who held her heart just because he had a heart incomparable in its vastness and a nature more compassionate than any Minerva had ever seen. That night she made her way to his office again. Lifting her head and taking a deep, calming breath, Minerva knocked on the door of the Transfiguration classroom and unhurriedly pushed it open. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk and looked up as she clicked the door shut. His eyes fixed on hers as she stood at a halt in front of the door, and he peered intently at her. After a few moments, he spoke "Ah," said Albus, almost in a sigh. "Your burning curiosity and my – desperate desire to confide make the resisting path a thorny one."

Albus then surprised Minerva by tugging off his half-moon spectacles and rubbing is eyes, one with the thumb and one with the fingers of his right hand. She sat back down steadily as he restored his spectacles to their rightful place at the end of his long nose. Minerva kept silent, sensing that Albus had not quite finished articulating his musings. He then confirmed her feeling. "I have a question for you, Minerva," he stated gradually and carefully, obvious in the thorough examination of his statements before they were voiced. "The Ministry, and others besides, do not think it wise to – engage in such matters with our students. And I quite agree when concerning those in the lower years; however our minds differ pertaining to the elder. "You have heard about the two opposing protests at the moment, of course; one against the wizarding world taking a part in the muggle war; the other in favor of it. There is a majority within the ministry itself who stand firmly against active participation in this war purely because they believe that this is not _our_ fight, and that our intrusion will cause disruption even amongst the allies. These people also say that a wizarding side, even if fighting against a corrupt opposition, has an unfair advantage over its rival, insofar as there is not a single chance the magical side can be defeated."

Minerva could not restrain from responding in outrage to this. "But the Ministry can't think the muggles so proud and headstrong that they would not welcome all the help they can get, no matter who it is from. We could end the war now! Surely to save the lives of so many, the Ministry would be under _moral obligation_ to intervene!" Minerva's vehemence forced her voice into exclamation, but Albus understood it as the question it was intended to be. "I am pleased to hear you are so vociferous on this issue, Minerva," Albus replied, his eyes adopting their usual twinkle as he peered over his half-moon spectacles. Minerva lowered her fierce gaze sheepishly. "You need not feel insecure about your ideas," he said gently, responding to her reaction of discomfort. "I happen to agree with you, and I also, if you'll excuse my immodesty, know for certain that I have been right all this time in trusting the minds of the elder students. You clearly have the ability to form your own astute opinions and I believe the sensible input of the youths in our world is invaluable to the Ministry."

All of a sudden a gleam of sorrow flooded into Albus's face, but, although Minerva did not miss it, it was quickly checked and masked. She decided in one bold move to inquire about the thought behind that now shrouded expression. "You have not said all you wish to tell me, Albus." She spoke gently but surprised herself at her almost presumptuous demeanor. Albus simply smiled a small smile at her; a sad smile she thought; a smile that comes with the burden of wisdom and knowledge amidst the lack of being able to make people see and understand. They sat for some time in silence. Minerva was absorbed in her thoughts of what Albus had conveyed to her, then on the fact that he had confided in her. He held her eyes with his and there was a few more seconds silence before he spoke. "The Ministry has requested," he began slowly and deeply, "that no teacher at this school may make his opinion on Ministry matters known to, what _they_ deem, impressionable minds. "No one at the Ministry will heed a particular statement of mine, and I am forbidden to speak of it, as it is greatly lacking in proof."

Here, Dumbledore breathed deeply through his nose, as though bracing himself before following his instincts and going against Ministry advice. "I have a powerful – impression, Minerva, that the war we are not fighting in – _is_ our war." Minerva's eyes, having wandered in her contemplations of his words, shot back to his at once; her brow faintly furrowed and her mouth opened a little in shock as she realized his words. "Do you mean that this is a _wizard_ war, Albus?" She continued her astounded stare, her eyes imploring him to respond. Albus's lips remained closed as he, once more, held for silent pause. It seemed to Minerva that he was again considering his next words carefully. He spoke in a slow and troubled way, revealing more openly the sorrow he had earlier let her glimpse.

"I believe that if we do not join this war, the battle will be lost not only for muggles but for wizards as well, and not just the battle but the soul of society. There are deeper forces at work in this war that the Ministry have not, and doubtless for some time will not acknowledge; and until they do, our world will continue to darken under this – ominous cloud of threat." "I don't quite understand, Albus," said Minerva puzzled but no longer self-conscious. "Do you mean that these deeper forces are the works of wizards?" Albus merely nodded but did not elaborate any more. "Albus-"she was interrupted even before she could properly start her question, "Minerva, my dear these will have to hold your curiosity and concern for a while. It's late," and so it was, it was past midnight. "The holidays for Christmas start day after tomorrow, maybe then…" he seemed undecided. Minerva suddenly realized how frail and tired he looked. "Albus I should have gone earlier, you need to sleep, look at yourself!" her exclamation made him laugh "all right mother McGonagall I will retire for the night now" he chuckled as he held open his office door for her. "Good night Albus" she called before leaving.

It was the last day before the holidays were to begin, and the Great Hall looked especially splendid, decked out fantastically for the coming Yuletide. At the noisy Gryffindor table Minerva twisted around in her seat to allow Jeff and Terry to sit as they joined her and her friends Poppy, Ro and Sally. "I'm hoping to see my younger brothers' again." laughed Poppy. "They start next year. Linus is going to be sorted into Gryffindor for sure, but Linden might just be in Hufflepuff like mum was." she said, nodding to Sally as she spoke. "And I can't wait to spend the holidays with my family for a change! It's going to be wonderful." chuckled Sally. Her eyes lit up at the very thought. "What about you, Minerva?" Minerva gave a wry smile and answered, "I'm staying here, like always, but I don't mind."

The topic shifter to much sterner things as the breakfast continued. "But with the war on the continent and ..." started Jeff "It's _their _affair, not ours, not anymore than that muggle war is our concern." Terry told him reprovingly. "Speak for yourself!" said Sally. "I have my brother in the army." "Sorry." Minerva could not help but think of her conversation with Albus last night. If he were right- she was drawn from her musing by Ro who was poking her with her elbow. "They say that war is almost over." said Ro, holding up a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ for them to see. "The muggle war, you mean?" questioned Minerva. "Certainly, as there is no other war on." Terry scoffed, reaching for the newspaper. "If you ask me, something should be done." said Minerva, looking at the horrible headline: _Countless muggles slain by Hitler and his followers in Germany, France, and Poland_. There were pictures of the corpses on the snowy ground. French Aurors and English volunteers were sorting out the mess. She squinted, looking at the face of one of the volunteers. Minerva gasped sharply when she realized that it was their transfigurations' professor, Albus Dumbledore. She glanced from the picture where the man was standing in the snow, covering his eyes with one hand, to the head table where Albus sat at the right hand of Headmaster Dippet. He looked quite sad and tired too. While his colleagues obviously considered the massacres on the continent none of their affair, Albus took a different opinion.

She could hear snatches of the two professors' conversation even above the chatter around her. "Still playing at being a mediwizard in France, Albus?" So that is what he did when he left his classes unmanned. "Hardly a mediwizard, everyone I've seen has been dead." "Mortician then?" questioned the young professor at Dippet's other elbow: Slughorn, potions' master and the head of Slytherin house. There was a sort of grimace on his face. Minerva saw Albus's eyes flash at the tactless words. "I think of myself only as a volunteer and do what I can for those people ..." said the auburn-haired professor, his voice growing so low that Minerva could not catch his words, which drew a dry, coughing laugh from Slughorn and a rather ugly smirk from Dippet. "Try not to get too involved. Those people will most likely be dead in a year." advised Dippet, patting Dumbledore's arm in a paternal manner. The headmaster was aged and considered anyone under one hundred and twenty-five a mere child.

"Armando, if the Ministry holds with that attitude, no doubt they will be." he answered. "I should be making my announcement soon, about the muggle war and so forth." said Dippet, perhaps choosing to ignore his colleague. "I still think the muggle world is heading toward annihilation." said Slughorn. He cared nothing for muggles or the things of their world. "Then they will take us with them." said Dumbledore. "Our communities may often be separate, but our destinies are not." Slughorn merely looked at him as though he had spoken in some alien language. The headmaster rose from his seat and called for the attention of the students, who were nearly finished with their breakfasts. Minerva and Ro, both of whom had been attending to the conversation at the head table while Poppy, Sally, Terry and Jeff sniped at each other over the newspaper, exchanged nervous glances. If Dippet had an announcement, then it could not be good.

"Despite our earlier intentions to see all the students who wish to do so go back to their homes for the holidays this year, the faculty has decided that it is too risky for those dwelling near urban areas or in the southern portion of England to return to their homes. Arrangements have been made for the effected students to remain at Hogwarts for the holiday season, where, with any luck we shall all have a very merry Christmas." said Dippet. Groans went up from all the tables. Minerva patted Poppy's shoulder comfortingly. Sally was actually crying, but she had good reason. She had only seen her brother twice in almost three years because of the war and hence of the bombings and threat of invasion. "At least we'll all be together for the holidays." Minerva told them quietly. Her friends smiled ruefully at her.

Minerva could not help but to notice that Albus seemed more distracted than usual in class that day. It was the final day of lessons before the holidays began, so no one else seemed aware of the fact, even when the professor could not recall what he had just transfigured into a raven. It had been a black top hat, Minerva reminded him. Albus thanked her and turned the bird back into a hat. Minerva tried not to think of the cause of his distraction but failed miserable. "Miss McGonagall? Minerva? Are you quite all right?" questioned the professor. She blushed a magnificent crimson as she realized that class was being dismissed and she was still sitting there, staring dreamily at the ceiling.

"Yes, professor. I'm so sorry." Minerva stammered keeping the formal address for the benefit of the remaining students. He chuckled softly and sat down at a chair near hers and said, "I can hardly fault you, Minerva. I find my mind wandering quite a bit these days too." "The war?" she questioned. "Yes." he affirmed. "I saw your picture in the newspaper." she stated. "Did you now? The headmaster will not be pleased." "I think ... well, I think that it's very brave and noble of you Albus." said Minerva, suddenly feeling very proud. "I just want them to know that they haven't been forgotten by all of us over here, that some of us are concerned and aware of their struggles." said Albus. "But it is very kind of you to say so. I am gratified to hear that I am at least setting an example for my students." "You are." she assured him. Then she faltered slightly as she said, "But, Albus, we don't really know what is happening exactly on the continent." "Of course not. Very few people do, even if they read the paper." nodded Albus sadly. "The Ministry doesn't want to frighten people. I can understand that, to a point, of course, but this crisis won't resolve itself, and our brothers in Europe need our assistance to rid themselves of this accursed Dark Wizard and his minions." "So you won't tell me?" "No, Minerva, it would be too terrible for you to hear. I can only say that there are far fewer muggles than there were a few years ago." he answered. "Killed?" "Yes, and tortured as well. I have seen the evidence of both myself." he said, sighing softly and rubbing his eyes under his spectacles. "I'm sorry, Albus." "So am I. And I will continue to do what I can until the Ministry decides to act ... whenever that might be."

Minerva knew that be whatever it may she could not stop feeling concerned. But, after the conversation after class, she felt a sense of pride for Albus. A knock at the door roused Minerva from her musings. It was still a bit early for anyone else to be returning from class, unless her friends had chosen to come after her. "Yes?" she called, leaving her bed. The door creaked open to reveal Albus. He looked vaguely concerned. "I'm fine." said Minerva stiffly. Albus looked over his glasses at her. She looked away quickly. "Yes?" Albus prompted, putting a hand on her shoulder. She was trembling, and it surprised him. He drew her closer as her face scrunched up as though she were holding back tears. Minerva was a very tender-hearted girl, and no matter what front she put on to hide it, Albus could always tell. "Albus, it is so difficult to find out the truth about these things. Would you consider perhaps telling me more of what is going on over there? I know I'm young, but I want to know." "I will consider it, Minerva. It could be for the best perhaps if your generation is more informed about this situation. I am going to France again tonight, but I won't be returning until Christmas. When I do return, we will talk again." he promised her. "Do be careful, Albus." she cautioned, looking up into his twinkling blue eyes. "I will take the utmost care, I assure you. I have no intention of being added to the growing list of victims." he said as he turned to go.

The holidays were passing swiftly for the students at Hogwarts. Only a handful had been allowed to return to their homes, and these were mostly Slytherin upperclassmen whose parents lived in secluded manors in the North of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Of course, this only made the holidays happier for those who had to stay behind, especially the Gryffindors. The castle was decorated with unsurpassing festiveness to take the students' minds off their exile. Hogwarts had never looked so wonderful. The staff had struggled to outdo themselves each year since the war and the bombings had begun, especially Professor Filtwick, the middle-aged charms' professor, who decorated everything in sight with charmed lights and floating candles. There was Christmas trees by the dozen in the hallways and in the dormitories, and the scent of fresh pine and cedar pervaded the corridors.

As Minerva sat with her friends at the special feast that evening, she looked at her Christmas gifts and sighed softly. Her friends had given her candy bought during their last trip to Hogsmeade, which was quite a jovial present. Her friends had in return received Quidditch things from her: equipment Ro and Jeff and fan gear for Poppy, Sally and Terry. Ro was grinning as she rifled through his broom care kit and Jeff was tossing his new practice Quaffle in the air with an impish look, obviously waiting to use it to nail any Slytherin who ventured too close. It would be put to more practical uses during the team's next practice. But the one thing Minerva had wanted for Christmas, she had yet to receive. She had wanted to see Albus again and remind him of his promise, but his chair at the head table was empty, as it had been at both breakfast and lunch time. He had yet to return from France.

As Minerva made her way past the Entrance Hall, she glimpsed a figure moving through the shadows. Stopping in her tracks and watching the robed and hooded form making its way toward the stairs to the hospital wing, her curiosity was piqued. Who would be out at this time of the evening, especially during the feast? The figure, she guessed, was a man, and did not appear to have noticed her position at the beginning of the corridor that led to the Tower stairs. Who was it then? Minerva took a deep breath and chose to follow him. Strange things were afoot in the castle already. It was best to know what was going on instead of remaining ignorant, she decided, following at discrete distance. The person moved with slow and labored steps and kept a hand on the wall as he moved. There was something decidedly familiar about him. Minerva frowned as she caught a glimpse of dark blue robes beneath the heavy hooded cloak. She moved from shadow to shadow, hoping that he did not turn. "Minerva, a cat you may be in spirit, but since you are still in human form you would do well to remember that you are wearing heavy boots." said a familiar voice.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she froze where she stood. The figure turned and threw back his hood to reveal Albus Dumbledore. He looked incredibly weary. There were signs of light bruising on the right side of his face. "Albus?" she questioned, finding her voice. "I said that I would be home for Christmas." he chuckled, beckoning her forward. "It slipped my mind." she admitted, embracing him lightly in greeting. "The holiday season can do that, I imagine." he said, looking over his spectacles at her. "I am on my way to visit Madam Bell ..." Albus began to say. "Are you hurt?" Minerva questioned quickly feeling nauseous at the thought. "It isn't serious." he assured her seeing her blanch. "Let me help you." she offered. Albus nodded gratefully and put an arm around her shoulders. A slight blush crept into her pale cheeks as well as his as she began helping him down the corridor. Being so close to him, especially after she had been so worried, very nearly made her giddy. She glanced up almost shyly into his blue eyes. They seemed more sorrowful than usual, but his eyes were still, were always quite lovely.

"Shouldn't you be in the Great Hall, enjoying the feast?" he asked with sudden concern. "I got permission to go back to the dormitories." she replied, noticing that Albus was favoring his right foot and ankle. She tried to help him compensate. "Too much candy before mealtime? Of course, there really isn't any such thing as too much candy." Minerva took a deep breath and said, "No, I was just worried and not in the mood to party ..." At the doors to the hospital wing, Albus paused and looked at the sad face of his escort. These days were supposed to be happy. He had been very concerned for his students, for all of the students and the staff, but Minerva seemed to occupy the front of his mind. He could not help worrying about her. She had grown to be his best friend in the last few years, understanding him when no one else did. He could not even think what he would do if something were to happen to her. He pushed aside those thoughts quickly. She was another of his students, why did he have to feel so attached to her? it was not like she was his only friend though his best. He sighed in resignation, lifting Minerva's chin. "Thank you, Minerva, for seeing me here safely. I had best see Madam Bell alone as she will not be pleased with my recent conduct." he told her. "Yes, Albus." she said, hesitating as she offered him a small smile. "Minerva?" "Yes Albus?" she turned her hand on the door, "Thank you tabby" he said smiling at her. her face broke into the brightest smile he had seen since he had returned. Albus realized how much he had wanted to see her smile like that as she turned and left the infirmary.

Minerva was curled up in a comfortable chair in the Gryffindor common room, reading an excellent book on Animagus transformations to supplement her extensive course work. This was the perfect way to spend the holidays in her opinion, though many of her friends, who were outdoors in the snow, building snowmen and having snowball fights, adamantly disagreed with her and rued Minerva's studious streak. This was especially true of Ro and Jeff, who had plans to build an igloo near the lake, with some special magical assistance that they had hoped Minerva would provide. "Minerva, Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office." she heard Terry call from the portrait hole.

She looked up from her book to see him brushing snow from his robes. "About what?" she questioned, marking her place and leaving her chair. "He didn't say." shrugged Terry. "All right then." she nodded, walking toward the portrait hole. "If he tells you anything about the war, you will tell the rest of us, right?" questioned Terry as he paused at the stairs leading to his dormitory in the Ravenclaw tower. "Curious, Terry? I thought you were rather insistent that it isn't our concern." said Minerva before stepping through the portrait hole and making her way to Dumbledore's office.

Wispy was just leaving a tray of tea and scones with the professor when he invited Minerva into the office, which was a cozy room that was very similar to the Gryffindor common room, only smaller and quieter. Minerva had a seat in a chair by the fire, her usual seat when she visited the office, which had been quite frequently in the past years due to her extensive training in transfigurations. Albus poured the drinks and joined her in a matching chair. He regarded her coolly as they began drinking their tea. "You look quite well this afternoon." Minerva commented, noticing that the bruises were gone and he no longer favored any of his limbs. Madam Bell had certainly taken proper care of him. "And you look quite lovely in those new robes. They bring out the color in your eyes quite nicely tabby. A Christmas gift, I presume?" he said. Minerva nearly choked on her tea to her host's lasting amusement. "Yes, from Poppy's parents." she managed weakly. "They have excellent taste." he chuckled. "Thank you, Albus." "I suppose after last evening's excitement you must be a bit more reticent to hear about the situation on the continent." he said. "Actually, quite to the contrary. The war is no longer just their situation, is it? You have been hurt in the war trying to save as many people as you can. How much closer to home can this get?" questioned Minerva with a dry laugh.

When Albus looked at her, a fierce pride shone in his blue eyes. He had perhaps expected Minerva to hesitate. She was not made of stone or steel. The idea of what the war was capable of doing to even the least of opponents would have rattled every student he could think of. But Minerva was still willing to learn more instead of hiding in ignorance as many witches and wizards were doing, especially those at the Ministry who counseled against involvement in the war. "You are correct in your assertions. The conflict is beginning to affect more of us here than it did a year or two ago." "Then something will be done?" Albus took a deep breath and answered, "I do not know for sure. The Ministry is made up of an indecisive group of people who remember the horrors of the last wizarding war all too vividly. But the time to strike is coming. Either it will be soon or never. They say that Grindelwald is ...""One minute!" she had shouted out even before she could control herself. "What did you say? Which wizard is behind this war? Grindelwald?" all conscious thought seemed to have left her permanently. The murderer of her parents was alive and killing more people!

Minerva had been very hard to control. She had shouted in rage then whimpered in agony and at last settled down to trembling in her chair. Albus, who had been unaware of the fact had found himself dumbfounded. After Minerva had quitened down and sat quivering in her chair, he tentatively touched her chin and made her look at him. "Tabby, my dear, you are not the only one to have lost your family to him." He said still not knowing how to phrase what he wanted to say. "What would you know Albus, how would you understand how it feels to know that your parent's murderer is free and the ministry is trying to ignore his presence?"

"I know tabby because I lost my own parents to them as well. He killed both my parents and raped my sister in front of my very eyes before killing her as well. I was unable to do anything." Albus's voice was hardly audible and hoarse with emotions but for Minerva there was no other sound. She could not even start to think how he must have felt, how he must have blamed himself. For what seemed eternity they stared at each other each realizing that they shared a common pain. Then Minerva rose from her chair and walked over to him. Lifting his face by the chin, she wiped away the tears from them before wiping away the tears that had escaped her own eyes. Unable to hold himself any longer Albus rested his face on her shoulders and cried profusely into her neck as fresh tears escaped from her own eyes. Minerva could feel the huge dam break releasing the tears he had been holding for all these years as were hers. They both cried till no more tears came holding onto each other all the while. A while after their tears had stopped, Albus lifted his head and Minerva quickly dropped her arm that she had rapped round him protectively, stepping back. Minerva I-"he began already trying to apologize. "Albus we both needed it, we have needed it for years now." She cut in quietly. "You are of course right tabby, like always." He replied a small smile gracing his lips as he felt his burdens fall, leaving him lighter than he had felt from that horrid day.

"That's why you don't want us, students, that is, involved." said Minerva, shivering as she pictured what could happen to the girls may be even some of her friends. "In part." he nodded. "What else did you see in France, Albus?" As you can image, Grindelwald wasted no time in his search for those of mixed blood and muggle parentage." Dumbledore paused and let his words sink in. "I traveled across the country with groups of people who believe this to be our war as well, most of whom have had too little training as there are few seasoned Aurors who would go against the ministry. We went from village to village mostly among wizarding folk, making lists of those who had been killed and seeing that some semblance of order is being kept, that graves are being dug and marked because none of those children and none of their parents are left alive any longer. Grindelwald found every last muggle-born child in. Not nearly as many as we have here, but very many to die such horrible deaths."

"But how did he find them?" "Grindelwald has many spies. There was a village near the border between France and Germany. The muggle war had passed through it sometime earlier, devastating the place, but the wizarding community in the village had been left largely intact thanks to some effort by a family of mixed blood. When we arrived, that family was dead, but all of their pureblooded neighbors had been spared. Someone in that village had to be working with Grindelwald, though we could not discover who, although we suspect a recently retired professor who lives in the village. It was the most unconscionable example of treachery I had ever seen." said Dumbledore, leaning forward in his chair and clasping his hands together. Minerva could see the anger in his eyes.

"Was that where you were injured?" she inquired after a long moment of silence. He glanced up at her and shook his head. "Actually, one of the people with me stepped on a land mine. That's an exploding thing in the ground that muggle armies leave behind to slow down their enemies. I was about ten feet behind him. It was like a blasting curse. I landed hard on my ankle. But what it did to the person ..." he said, trailing off and shaking his head again. "Did you know him very well?" "Henri? No, I cannot say that I did. He was seventeen. He had quit Beaux-batons to help in the war. That's almost everything I knew about the young man. Philip said that he had passed the certification tests with flying colors." "Albus, what are we going to do? I know you say that I'm too young to help you in anyway, but you must understand what I feel like sitting by when my parent's murderer is raging havoc."

"Don't be foolish, Minerva. Things are being done. I'm not the only one who goes over there to provide assistance, you know. There are Aurors over there without permission and less qualified witches and wizards too. Mediwitchs and wizards, Quidditch players, broom salesmen, and all manner of folk are taking an interest. People are slowly realizing that as you put it, 'something must be done'. The only problem is unity of purpose and effort, which the Ministry should provide for us and simply isn't." he explained. Then he smiled at her and added, "And you are, of course, doing something very important." "What?" "Listening, to me tabby. I feel much stronger and more determined now than when you first came in this afternoon. And, therefore, when I return to the battlefields in a few days, I will be of more use to my fellow combatants, if I might count myself among their ranks." Albus told her, patting her knee as he stood. Minerva nodded noncommittally at his words, she wanted to do something but she knew he was right as always. "I'm glad to have been of some service." she managed. Albus laughed and said, "You have been of a great of service, Minerva. I don't know what I would do without you. Perhaps I would talk to myself or something." Then he grew somber as she left her seat. "I believe you should return to your studies now. I have some paperwork that I must catch up." he told her, leaving more than a few questions unanswered.

After classes ended for the week, Minerva began making her way through the crowded halls and back to the Tower when she was stopped by Terry who pressed a note into her hand. "Wants to see you about something ... again, I expect." he shrugged, nodding in the direction of Dumbledore's office. "Will you tell us more about the war on the continent this time too? Ro, Sally, Jeff and Poppy are eager to hear ..." "Say it, Terry." said Minerva, unfolding the note and skimming it. Terry had been right: Dumbledore wanted to see her. "It is our concern." he sighed, rolling his eyes. "Very well." she nodded. "Take my books for me?" she asked with a smile. "Of course." Terry agreed. "See you all at dinner then." she said before taking off down the corridor. Albus was sitting in his chair by the fire when she entered the office. There was no freshly prepared tea this time. He seemed deep in thought as she collapsed easily into the chair reserved for guests, and her especially. He smiled as he looked up and over his spectacles at Minerva.

"Mister Boots is obviously an excellent courier. I imagined it would take him sometime to locate you." said Albus. "Well, we do share a class schedule, you know." she pointed out. "Naturally." he nodded thoughtfully. "I wanted you to know that I am leaving for France this evening. I won't be coming back until sometime in mid February unless the situation over there alters greatly or I am needed elsewhere." Her throat tightened slightly. He would be absent for more than three or four weeks at the very least. That was practically a month! She could not immediately remember the last time she had gone so long without seeing him. "I see ..." she managed. "It seems that I owe something of a debt to Professor Binns as he spoke out on my behalf at the last staff meeting. Dippet was quite prepared to forbid me from going, but Binns managed to persuade him to do otherwise, though I can easily imagine that this extended visit may be my last as Dippet isn't about to truly change his mind unless the Ministry itself does." Minerva felt slightly numb as she asked him, "What will you be doing over there this time, Albus?" "More of the same, unfortunately." he replied with a soft sigh.

"Philip was killed last Tuesday. I'm torn. I want to help them and at the same time I do not wish to abandon my students. It is a difficult thing. Perhaps I want too much." "But you want the right things." "Do I now?" he chuckled, looking at her very carefully with his twinkling blue eyes. "Who can say? But I think I will remain here a while longer and help out there when I can. Maybe when they locate his whereabouts ... And who knows?" he said mysteriously, shrugging. "You will be gone for some time." "Yes." "I will try to put together a study group or something in your absence with your permission, of course so that we won't fall behind." "Of course, Minerva. That is a wonderful idea. And see that you continue working on your OWLS studies as well. I think you will do wonderfully." "Thank you." she said quietly. "I could think of no one else that I would trust so fully to take care of my students while I am gone. I trust that with Mister Donovan's assistance Gryffindor house will be in very capable hands as well." he said, naming the other Gryffindor prefect. "You want me to look after the house?" "Yes, Minerva, and you are a prefect." Albus told her mater-of-factly.

"I will do as you have asked." "Excellent." he said, glancing at a clock on the wall. "I must be leaving soon." he said, rising from his seat. Minerva clambered to her feet as well. Looking at him in the soft light of the office, she tried to memorize every detail of his softly smiling face. She wanted to remember him exactly as he stood there before her. He chuckled quietly at the look in her dark eyes and held out his arms to her. "Perhaps I would not be overstepping my bounds to hug my best pupil before I leave?" he questioned. "Of course not." she answered. His arms were strong and comforting as they encircled her. She allowed herself to melt into them, feeling her heart flutter as she did so. Minerva chuckled quietly as she realized that he still smelled like lemon drops and chocolate, but then there wasn't a student at the school who was unaware of his love of sweets. She felt his fingertips touch her long black hair as he released her. She managed a smile. "I will have news for you when I return, Minerva. Take care until then." "And you should do the same." "Naturally." he nodded before showing her out. Somehow she always made it both easier and harder for him to leave.

Minerva was having her lunch in the great hall when Ro leaned over from the Hufflepuff table and nudged her gently and whispered, "Take a look who just sat down at the head table." Minerva looked up from her book and turned toward the front of the hall. She smiled with relief as she saw Professor Dumbledore take his usual seat next to the headmaster, which had been empty for what had seemed like weeks and weeks. He looked just a bit thinner than she remembered and perhaps more careworn or tired, and instead of being dressed in his customary midnight blue robes or in standard school robes, he was wearing warm traveling attire. As he took his seat, Dumbledore noticed her in the crowd of students and nodded to her, which made Minerva smile even more and blush just slightly too.

Dippet whispered something to Dumbledore that caused him to turn and nod in affirmation. "Minerva, you must go see him tonight." whispered Sally. "He must have all sorts of news about the war and everything." she added. "Things that aren't in the papers." said Jeff, who had now joined their table. Over the previous months all of her friends had begun to show an increasing interest in the muggle war in continental Europe, possibly brought about by the attention the conflict was receiving in all of the wizarding newspapers and Minerva's own enthusiasm in discuss the topic, including the inside information she received from Dumbledore. Sally, Ro and Poppy were by far the most interested of all her friends because of what Dumbledore had been telling her and the incredible amount of respect that they had for their head of house.

"Really! He probably needs to rest after such a strenuous undertaking. I'm sure he'll send for me when or if he wishes to discuss his trip to France." she said quietly, attempting to return to her book. "Min-err-va!" Ro whined, tugging at the book. "Hush." she said, pursing her lips. "She's right." said Poppy more sensibly. "It wouldn't be fair to bother him tonight after such a long journey." "He probably just apparated to Hogsmeade. It wouldn't have been all that ..." Terry started to say, but the three young women, Ro included, all glared at him. "All right, all right." he shrugged. As Minerva left the Great Hall later the evening, leaving her friends to their never-ending discussions, in which she never usually took greater part, she heard the sound of quick and even footsteps behind her. Pausing and glancing over her shoulder, she smiled. "Good evening." she said, waiting for Dumbledore as he caught up to her. "Minerva." he nodded. "How was your visit abroad?" she inquired. Dumbledore gestured for her to walk with him down the corridor that would take them to his office. He shook his head slightly. "No, Grindelwald has not been found and the muggle war delays the search. Even the few remaining seasoned Aurors are not inclined to enter the cities that are being bombed around the clock. The risk is too great. I hardly blame them." "And the Ministry of Magic?" "Indecisive as ever." he shrugged, opening the door to his office. "Lady's first." he said with a slight bow.

"Then nothing has changed." "Very little has changed, but more people volunteer their assistance each day, and that is always something." "Ro and Poppy ..." she began, but stopped, shaking her head. "Yes?" "They've begun to feel as I do, that we shouldn't be sitting here idly." "You've had a profound effect upon your peers then." "No, you have, Albus. They see the lengths that you go to ... and they want to do the same. What should I tell them?" Minerva questioned. "Only what I have told you, many times now." he chuckled. "Your generation will have its own conflicts, and if this one lasts much longer, you may all take part in it too, but for now your obligations are to yourselves, your families, and your studies. Let those of us who are older and perhaps a little wiser handle this while we yet may." "So you're counseling noninvolvement?" "Of course not, Minerva. I am merely counseling caution to my young students who have seen far too few winters." he told her gently.

"Now, I want to hear about anything I might have missed during my extended absence." said Dumbledore, changing the subject. "And how are your studies coming? I noticed that you were reading at dinner tonight." "_After_ dinner." she clarified, pulling a book from one of her robe pockets. "That book is quite advanced." said Albus with pleased smile, taking the volume to examine it. "I was considering it for my seventh year's next term." he added. "Then I would be considerably ahead." "Rubbish. You already are, Minerva." he commented. "Thank you Albus." She had bade him goodnight quickly as he, with the permission of the headmaster, had spent another two weeks in France after bring his classes back up to speed, which was an easy enough task, thanks to Minerva and her study group.

Minerva had her routine of classes, study groups, and other academic tasks to sustain her while Dumbledore was in France for days at a time, always returning a little more worried and haggard. She no longer needed to ask him how the war on the continent was progressing. She could see it in his eyes. Grindelwald was getting stronger. Then, one morning as Minerva made her way toward the Great Hall for an early breakfast, she heard raised voices in the staff room. She paused and listened as she recognized the voice of Headmaster Dippet. "This is final, Albus. You cannot return to the continent until the school year is over. It has become much too dangerous." "But, Armando, they are close, very close, to locating his stronghold. They will need every possible resource to defeat him. If I remain here ..." said Dumbledore, the barest hint of desperation in his voice. "You are only one man, Albus. I cannot spare your talents any longer. You have students taking their tests soon. You must be here for them. Your friends must simply make do." said Dippet with a note of finality in his tone.

Minerva frowned. Was the headmaster a fool? Albus should go where he was needed. That was imperative. He had supported his friends and colleagues aboard for a long time. How could he be expected to abandon them at this juncture? "You don't understand the magnitude of the conflict ..." Dumbledore started to say. "That is quite enough. You have a future here, Albus, and everyone knows that. Don't say anything rash, anything that you might regret." Dippet warned him sternly. There was a short silence. Minerva strained to hear what was said thereafter. "And everyone else on the faculty concurs with your decision?" Dumbledore questioned. "I am the headmaster of this school. I don't need their support in this matter. Remember that you were granted an extraordinary amount of latitude this year, Albus." said Dippet. "And for that I am grateful." said Dumbledore resignedly.

Minerva ducked around a corner as the staff room door opened. She listened as she heard the sound of retreating footsteps, Dippet going to have his breakfast, not at all bothered by the fact that his actions might condemn many on the continent to death. He might believe that Albus Dumbledore was only one man, but Minerva knew that he was a powerful ally to the forces of good and a wizard to be reckoned with, though he often chose to exhibit a certain modesty and humility that belied his greatness. When she was quite sure that Dippet had gone, she walked to the staff room door and peered cautiously inside. Professor Dumbledore was standing behind the high backed chair that stood before the hearth. Dumbledore glanced over his shoulder and smiled rather sadly. "I knew you were around." he said to her. "Knowing that helped me to keep my temper." "I certainly would have lost mine." said Minerva. "You heard all of that then?" "I heard ... enough." she nodded. "As did I." he agreed laughing quietly. "What will you do now?" she asked, noticing only as he turned toward her that his nose had been broken and that his left arm was in a sling. She gasped aloud and asked, "What the devil happened to you, Albus?"

"Which question to answer." he mused. "Albus, you must go and see Madam Bell straight away. Your nose ... You should have something done." she said, reaching out to touch his face. He leaned down slightly as she stood on tip-toe to examine his face, cupping it in her hands very gently. His eyes twinkled softly. "It has healed of its own accord, Minerva. I think I shall consider it a souvenir from the war." "It ... doesn't look so bad really ... I suppose it looks pretty…well adorable." she said hesitantly, surprised that she actually liked it though she would have preferred it did not happen. "But weren't there any Mediwitchs or wizards over there?" she questioned. "Precious few, Minerva, and none who could waste the time to treat such trifles as this. And I trust you understand the difficulty involved in doing myself." he said. "Quite." she nodded. Most witches and wizards would balk at the idea of trying to heal their own broken nose. The aim required was a bit too precarious to attempt cross-eyed. "My arm is another matter. I intend to have it look at." said Dumbledore. "May I walk with you to the hospital wing then?" questioned Minerva. "I imagine that you were on your way to have breakfast." "Yes, but it can certainly wait." "Thank you, tabby. You are always a great comfort to me." he said with a smile.

"Rubbish." she muttered, taking him by his uninjured arm and leading him out of the staff room. "Now, are you going to tell me how you wound up in this sorry state or must I guess?" she questioned. "It was a particularly violent disarming charm cast by an overconfident Dark Wizard during yet another ambush. I dare say that he planned to have some fun using one or two of the Unforgivable, but Thibault caught him from behind rather nicely with a petrifying spell." explained Dumbledore as they walked. Minerva shuddered involuntarily at the thought and at her mentor's easy-going, nonchalant description of the incident. Albus squeezed her hand, adding, "It wasn't so bad, Minerva." "But it could have been." "Well, you won't have to worry about me until summer now." "So you will be abiding by Headmaster Dippet's decision then?" she questioned. "I have a responsibility to my students, about that there can be no mistake. I do not think the headmaster would hesitate to let me go, future here or not. He has the authority and the will to use it. For now, that is enough to keep me here and out of trouble, though there may come a time. ..." "Yes?" "I have said too much perhaps on this matter." he said. "If they start an open war, you will go?" Minerva questioned quietly. "Thibault will owl me when that happens, and, yes, I shall probably answer the summons." he nodded. Minerva did not say anything but merely tightened her grip upon his uninjured arm and said nothing. There was nothing to say in the matter. Only time could tell how it would be resolved.

They received their examination timetables and details of the procedure for OWLs during their next Charms lesson. "As you can see," Professor Filtwick told the class as they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard, "your OWLs are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory papers in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night." He squeaked and then continued "Now, I must warn you that the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbor at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules- however, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about." "Please, Professor," said Poppy, her hand in the air, "When will we find out our results?" "An owl will be sent to you sometime in July" said Professor Filtwick. "Excellent," said Dean Thomas in an audible whisper, "so we don't have to worry about it till the holidays."

Their first examination, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning. Ro was reading two years' worth of Charms notes with her fingers in her ears, her lips moving soundlessly; Jeff was lying flat on his back on the floor, reciting the definition of a Substantive Charm while Terry checked it against The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5; and Sally and Poppy, who were practicing basic Locomotion Charms, were making their pencil-cases race each other around the edge of the table. Dinner was a subdued affair that night. Minerva and her friends did not talk much, but ate with gusto, having studied hard all day. "Oh, my goodness," Ro said suddenly, staring into the Entrance Hall. "Is that them? Is that the examiners?" The rest of them whipped around on their bench. Through the doors to the Great Hall they could see Dippet standing with a small group of ancient-looking witches and wizards.

It was an uncomfortable sort of an evening. Everyone was trying to do some last-minute revising but nobody seemed to be getting very far. Minerva went to bed early but then lay awake for what felt like hours. She knew she was not the only one lying awake, but none of the others in the dormitory spoke and finally, one by one, they fell asleep. None of the fifth-years talked very much at breakfast next day, either: Ro was practicing incantations under her breath while the salt cellar in front of her twitched; Sally was rereading Achievements in Charming so fast that her eyes appeared blurred. Once breakfast was over, the fifth- and seventh-years milled around in the Entrance Hall while the other students went off to lessons; then, at half past nine, they were called forwards class by class to re-enter the Great Hall, which had been rearranged; the four house tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor Dippet stood facing them. When they were all seated and quiet, he said, "You may begin," and turned over an

enormous hour-glass on the desk beside him, on which there were also spare quills, ink bottles and rolls of parchment.

Minerva turned over her paper and started to write. When it was over all of her friends agreed that it had not been too bad after all. The fifth-years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four house tables had reappeared for the lunch hour), then they trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until called for their practical examination. As small groups of students were called forwards in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practiced wand movements, occasionally poking each other in the back or eye by mistake. Sally's name was called. Trembling, she left the chamber with Anthony Goldstein, Gregory Goyle and Daphne Greengrass. Students who had already been tested did not return afterwards, so Minerva, Poppy and Ro had no idea how Sally had done. "She'll be fine, remember she got a great percentage every one of our Charms tests?" said Minerva to Ro and Poppy who looked worried. Ten minutes later, Professor Flitwick called, "Parkinson, Pansy - Patil, Padma - Patil, Parvati - McGonagall, Minerva." "Good luck," said Ro quietly. Minerva walked into the Great Hall.

"Professor Tofty is free, McGonagall," squeaked Professor Flitwick, who was standing just inside the door. He pointed Minerva towards what looked like the very oldest and baldest examiner who was sitting behind a small table in a far corner, a short distance from Professor Marchbanks, who was halfway through testing another boy. "McGonagall is it?" said Professor Tofty, consulting his notes and peering over his pince-nez at Minerva as she approached."Professor Tofty smiled at her encouragingly. That's it," he said in his quivery old voice, "no need to be nervous. Now, if I could ask you to take this egg cup and make it do some cartwheels for me." The exam went quite well. There was no time to relax that night; they went straight to the common room after dinner and submerged themselves in revision for Transfiguration next day. Minerva was the star performer that day and ran straight to Dumbledore's office to tell him about her exam once it was over.

They had their Herbology exam on Wednesday (other than a small bite from a Fanged Geranium, Minerva felt she had done reasonably well); and then, on Thursday, Defense against the Dark Arts. Minerva did her theory pretty well and had no problem with any of the written questions and during the practical examination, performed all the counter-jinxes and defensive spells perfectly. "Oh, bravo!" cried Professor Tofty, who was examining Minerva again, when Minerva demonstrated a perfect Boggart banishing spell. Soon their exams were over and it was almost time for the holidays.

Albus had started to vanish yet again now that the classes were over. The day before they were to leave for their holidays, Albus returned to the castle looking very weary and ready to drop. Minerva had been in the library reading when she heard someone move behind her. It was late into the night and as exams were over rarely anyone came to the library at these hours so she turned at once. "Oh, it's you Albus, by the Gods you look like a ghost!" Minerva exclaimed. Albus was looking haggard, his hair and beard bristled and his eyes weary. "Whatever are you doing here Albus; you should be in bed by the look of you." She could not help scolding him, he looked so frail. "Ah, I was looking for you tabby, if you will accompany me to my rooms." He tried to smile at her not succeeding entirely.

When they reached his rooms, Albus flopped down unceremoniously into his couch. Minerva looked at him wearily, he had been working too much, the burden of the whole world on one man's shoulders seemed very unfair. Shaking her head, she called wispy not knowing whether she would answer but when she did, Minerva ordered a very large set of foods for Albus not even caring to ask for his permission. When wispy popped away she turned to Albus, "You should go and wash up, I'll set up your food." "Of course mother McGonagall" Albus chuckled at her expression but went before she could retort. After he had been washed and fed properly, Minerva sat down in her usual chair and looked up at Albus expectantly. "I have received a formal warning tabby, from the minister of magic himself." Minerva's jaw dropped as she stared at him. "We have a new defense against dark arts teacher for next term and I have been warned from helping the muggles again" Albus said the words as though trying to get them out of his system which was probably why he had gone seeking her.

"What?" Minerva exclaimed in horror, the seriousness of the situation sinking into her. "Is the minister a fool? Why can't he see what is just in front of his nose? And why is he stopping you anyways? What are you supposed to be doing, gearing up to attack him?" she said sarcastically not even dreaming of the response she got. Albus looked at her sheepishly, smiling at her assessment. Minerva glared at him at first taking his grin to be a joke but slowly it sank in, "No, you can't be serious!" "Ah, but I am my dear tabby, I have been accused of that very crime, trying to rebel against the ministry." He was still smiling but Minerva could hardly keep from shouting, "What is so funny in the situation Albus? You know as well as I do that the muggles will be dead before tomorrow if you stop helping them, and who in their senses can accuse you of forming an army?" "Exactly my dear, the minister is not in his senses. He is scared of the war, of Grindelwald. Last time he was active and trying to gain power, he killed people like it were entertainment. The minister is scared it might happen again and not ready to accept it." Albus was looking worn again "I can't stop helping the muggles, I don't care what they do to me but I am worried about my students." "And we are worried about you Albus. Well, you should sleep now you know," said Minerva as she saw Albus yawn and the dark circles about his eyes. Albus smiled at her "Thank you again tabby for listening to my blabbering, I feel much better now that I have poured my woes to an acceptable ear" he said his eyes twinkling. "Good night Albus" Minerva called as she made her way out of his office back to her dormitories.

Leaving her school that year seemed a very tough task. She could not stop worrying and to her amazement her friends were as worried as her. as the train left the station at Hogsmeade, the four girls and two boys leaned out of the train staring at their school wondering how it would be on their return.


	7. Chapter 7

Declaimer:I don't own them

Author's Notes: Umbridge like lockhart is shown as back in time, she may or may not have been brought back again during Harry's years at Hogwarts. Some parts like the speech given by Umbridge or the first class and detention description are taken from the Harry potter books directly. Keep Reviewing ^_^

Minerva had had a hard time staying with her uncle and aunt this summer. With constant worries about the war that everyone thought was a muggle war but was not, Sally's brother, the new DADA teacher and above all Albus, she had a hard time keeping her temper in check and it made life very hard. She had come close to threatening her aunt one morning when she had turned off the news at the moment they had started about the war. Her uncle had nearly blown over with rage but had kept his mouth shut as he did not want to stir Minerva any more. She had tried everything in her power, but her temper seemed to be under the very surface of her skin, ready to jump out at the drop of a hat. So, when September 1st arrived, her uncle dropped her promptly to kings cross station thankful to get rid of her at last.

She had told them that she would not be returning to them at all again as she had turned of age that summer and hence was moving out of their house. At first she had thought she would rent a flat but Poppy's parents had made her promise to move in with them even offering to adopt her legally. Minerva though touched had refused the offer though agreeing to moving in with them. The OWLS results had arrived in the summer and Minerva had passed with flying colors. She had slit it open quickly and unfolded the parchment inside.  
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results  
Pass Grades:  
Outstanding (O)  
Exceeds Expectations (E)  
Acceptable (A)  
Fail Grades:  
Poor (P)  
Dreadful (D)  
Troll (T)

Minerva Athena McGonagall has achieved:  
Astronomy O  
Care of Magical Creatures O  
Charms O  
Defense Against the Dark Arts O  
Divination E  
Herbology O  
History of Magic O  
Potions O  
Transfiguration O  
The journey to Hogwarts had been strangely uneventful as all of them sat brooding quietly except for the time they discussed their OWLs results.

The Entrance Hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast. The four long house tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. Again, Minerva noticed people putting their heads together to whisper about the war raging on; she gritted her teeth in frustration wishing people would stop whispering and speak up more openly. Terry and Jeff drifted away from them at the Ravenclaw table. The moment they reached Gryffindors, Minerva, Ro, Poppy and Sally found seats together about halfway down the table between Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost.

Minerva found more important things to worry about, however: she was looking over the students' heads to the staff table that ran along the top wall of the Hall. "He's not there." Ro, Sally and Poppy scanned the staff table too, though there was no real need; Albus's presence made him hard to look over by mistake. "He can't have left," said Ro, sounding slightly anxious. "Of course he hasn't," said Minerva firmly. "You don't think he's: hurt, or anything, do you?" said Poppy uneasily. "No," said Minerva at once. "But where is he, then?" There was a pause, and then Minerva said very quietly, "Maybe he's not back yet. You know - from his mission - the thing he was doing over the last year." "Yeah: yeah, that'll be it," said Ro, sounding reassured, but Poppy bit her lip as Minerva was looking up and down the staff table hoping for some conclusive explanation of Albus's absence.

"Who's that?" she said sharply, pointing towards the middle of the staff table. Ro, Sally and Poppy looked up at once, eyes following hers. They lit first upon Professor Dippet, sitting in his high-backed golden chair at the centre of the long staff table. Dippet's head was inclined towards the woman sitting next to him, who was talking into his ear. She looked, Minerva thought, like somebody's maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Then she turned her face slightly to take a sip from her goblet and she saw, with a shock of recognition, a pallid, toad like face and a pair of prominent, peachy eyes.

"It's her Umbridge!" "Who?" said Poppy. "She was the one who was against the war the most, she works for the minister of magic!" explained Minerva "Nice cardigan," said Ro, smirking. "She works for the minister!" Poppy repeated, frowning. "What on earth's she doing here, then?" Minerva scanned the staff table, her eyes narrowed. "No," she muttered, "no, surely not:" Poppy, Ro and Sally did not understand what she was talking about "What do you mean Min?" asked Ro impatiently. "Do you remember me telling you what Professor Dumbledore told me about our new DADA teacher?" she looked at her friends who nodded in assent, "I think it's her." at that moment though, the doors from the Entrance Hall opened. A long line of scared-looking first-years entered, led by Professor Dumbledore, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizard's hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim. Minerva felt a wave of relief surge through her. He was there at school, unhurt; at least he looked all right. She let out a breath she did not know she had been holding.

The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The first-years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students, and Professor Dumbledore placed the stool carefully in front of them, and then stood back. The first-years' faces glowed palely in the candlelight. A small boy right in the middle of the row looked as though he was trembling. Minerva recalled, fleetingly, how she had been dazed by her first glimpse of Albus when she had stood there, waiting to be sorted. She blushed as she thought how much she had appreciated him even at first sight and now, well she was now even used to the fact that she loved him more dearly than she had ever felt she could. Minerva found herself smiling in months making it seem an alien expression. As she looked at him, Albus turned and caught her eye, smiling he touched the rim of his hat in greeting. Minerva smiled back at him. It felt great to be back home again, back in her school with her friends, with him.

When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the Hall was starting to creep upwards again, Dippet got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to lace the Headmaster. Minerva was feeling pleasantly drowsy now that her concern and worry had lessened a bit. "Well, now I need a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of term notices," said Dippet. "First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students." "We have a change in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome Professor Umbridge, our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher." There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause, during which Minerva, Sally Poppy and Ro exchanged slightly panicked looks. Dippet continued, Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the -" He broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dippet had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

Dippet only looked taken aback for a moment, and then he sat down and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor Filtwick's mouth was as ashen as Minerva had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted the headmaster before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts. "Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish and, again, Minerva felt a powerful rush of dislike that he could not explain to herself; all she knew was that she loathed everything about her, from her stupid voice to her fluffy pink cardigan. She gave another little throat-clearing cough ("hem, hem") and continued. "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!" Minerva glanced around. None of the faces she could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old. "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.

"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan," Parvati whispered to Lavender, and both of them lapsed into silent giggles. Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("hem, hem"), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them. The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching." Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her. Professor Sinstra's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawk like, and Minerva distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little "hem, hem" and went on with her speech. Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation:"

Ro found her attentiveness ebbing, as though her brain was slipping in and out of tune. The quiet that always filled the Hall when Dippet was speaking was breaking up as students put their heads together, whispering and giggling. Over on the Ravenclaw table Cho Chang was chatting animatedly with her friends. A few seats along from Cho, Terry had got out The Quibbler again. Meanwhile, at the Hufflepuff table Ernie Macmillan was one of the few still staring at Professor Umbridge, but he was glassy-eyed and Ro was sure he was only pretending to listen in an attempt to live up to the new prefect's badge gleaming on his chest. Professor Umbridge did not seem to notice the restlessness of her audience. Ro had the impression that a full-scale riot could have broken out under her nose and she would have ploughed on with her speech. The teachers, however, were still listening very attentively, and Minerva seemed to be drinking in every word Umbridge spoke, though, judging by her expression, they were not at all to her taste. ": because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Dippet and Albus clapped. The staff followed their lead, though Minerva noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dippet had stood up again. Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held:" "Yes, it certainly was illuminating," said Minerva in a low voice. "You're not telling me you enjoyed it?" Ro said quietly, turning a glazed face towards Minerva. That was about the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy." "I said illuminating, not enjoyable," said Minerva. "It explained a lot." "Did it?" said Poppy in surprise. "Sounded like a load of waffle to me." Commented Sally, shaking her head in disapproval at her friends behavior. There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle," said Minerva grimly. "Was there?" said Ro blankly. "How about: 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged'? How about: 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited'?" "Well, what does that mean?" said Ro impatiently. "I'll tell you what it means," said Minerva through gritted teeth. "It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."

There was a great clattering and banging all around them; Dippet had obviously just dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the Hall. Minerva jumped up, looking flustered. "Ro, I'm supposed to show the first-years where to go!" "Oh yeah," said Ro, who had obviously forgotten. "Well, alright, we'll go ahead you join us later Min." It was late when Minerva made her way up her dormitory after showing the first years about, helping the new prefects understand their duties and avoiding bumping into Umbridge. When she reached the dormitory she found Poppy, Ro and Sally waiting impatiently for her. "Min, where have you been? You are not the only prefect so you need not do all the tasks alone you know." Poppy it seemed had been worrying about her. "What did you mean when you said that the ministry was interfering at Hogwarts min?" Ro looked at her friend anxiously. Minerva sighed and stared at her friends before she started to explain.

"Ro, like I told you all Professor Dumbledore had received a formal letter of warning from the minister of magic. He had not told me though that the minister was sending up a spy here." Minerva was looking sick and agitated. "A spy Min? We have to be very careful then." Sally commented but Poppy was more aggrieved about Albus and the muggle war. "Min, that would make leaving the castle undetected impossible for Professor Dumbledore and we all know very well the muggles would have no chance without his help!" she exclaimed. "I know, that is what has been haunting me from after that speech, what will he do? And what will happen to the muggles? God knows what kind of classes she will give us." It was clear that concern for her favorite Professor was driving Minerva to the edge. "Relax Min, don't worry its Dumbledore we are talking about. He will find a way if any or make a way if not. Trust him like you always do." Ro said as she looked at her best friend with sudden concern. Minerva looked up from her brooding and smiled, Ro was right of course.

The next morning they sat at the breakfast table waiting for Professor Dumbledore to descend from the high table to hand out the timetables. Jeff and Terry had not joined them at the Gryffindor table as they were needed to receive their time tables at the Ravenclaw table with the rest of their classmates. The distribution of class schedules was more complicated than usual this year, for Professor Dumbledore needed first to confirm that everybody had achieved the necessary O.W.L. grades to continue with their chosen N.E.W.T.s. Poppy was immediately cleared to continue with Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Potions, and shot off to a first period Ancient Runes class without further ado. Ro took a little longer to sort out; her sharp face was anxious as Professor Dumbledore looked down her application and then consulted her O.W.L results.

"Herbology, fine," he said. "Professor Sprout will be delighted to see you back with an 'Outstanding' O.W.L. And you qualify for Defense Against the Dark Arts with 'Exceeds Expectations.' But the problem is Transfiguration. I'm sorry, Ro, but an 'Acceptable' really isn't good enough to continue to N.E.W.T. level. Just don't think you'd be able to cope with the coursework." He looked at another of his preferred students, a little sad himself. Ro hung her head. Professor Dumbledore peered at her from above his half moon glasses. "Why do you want to continue with Transfiguration, anyway? I've never had the impression that you particularly enjoyed it except Minerva and my company in the class if I may say so." Ro looked miserable and muttered "you have almost become like my friend, I didn't want to give up your class." "Humph," snorted Professor Dumbledore. "It's not needed Ro, we will be friends regardless of whether you take my classes or not. You are one of the better people I have met and I do not need you in my classes to share correspondence. Visit me in the office anytime you please." Ro turned very pink and blinked confusedly; Professor Dumbledore had never called her his friend even though he always called her Ro in private and acted friendly. "I'm sorry, Ro, but I cannot let you into my N.E.W.T. class. I see that you have an 'Exceeds Expectations' in Charm however - why not try for a N.E.W.T. in Charms?" "Wow that would be great!" mumbled Ro. "Take Charms," said Professor Dumbledore, "and I assure you your friends won't run away." Smiling slightly and winking at the look on Ro's face, Professor Dumbledore tapped a blank schedule with the tip of his wand and handed it, now carrying details of her new classes, to Ro.

Professor Dumbledore turned next to Parvati Patil, whose first question was whether Firenze, the handsome centaur, was still teaching Divination. "He and Professor Trelawney are dividing classes between them this year," said Professor Dumbledore, a hint of disapproval in his voice; he did not think the handsomeness of the teacher had anything to do with the subject taught. "The sixth year is being taken by Professor Trelawney." Parvati set off for Divination five minutes later looking slightly crestfallen. "So, Minerva, Minerva . . ." said Professor Dumbledore, consulting his notes as he turned to Minerva and smiled. "Charms, Defense against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration ... all fine. I must say, I was very proud when I got your result, Minerva, very pleased. Now, why haven't you applied to continue with Potions? I thought it was you were pretty good in the subject?" "It was, but well you know very well that Professor Slughorn has been trying to collect me for ages. I really don't think I can put up with it any longer Albus." "And so you decided to give it up tabby? I hardly expected that from you. You will continue to take potions." He said leaving no space for argument and looking very stern. Minerva looked at him ruefully already dreading the class. "Yes," said Minerva, "but I didn't buy the books or any ingredients or anything-" "I'm sure Professor Slughorn will be able to lend you some," said Professor Dumbledore sounding a little towards his edge. Minerva quieted down at once; she knew Albus did not entertain slugging when it came to her future. "Very well, tabby, here is your schedule." Handing it to her he left without another backward glance. Minerva sighed; she had a lot of explaining to do.

As Minerva made her way out of the hall, her friends joined her. "What ever happened to you Minerva? You look as though you lost your favorite book" remarked Terry who had joined the four girls now along with Jeff. "I got a telling to from Professor Dumbledore" Minerva said looking miserable. "I told you giving up potions were not a good idea. You have to agree Min; it is one of the most important subjects. How did you expect Professor Dumbledore would let you get away with quitting it I can't understand" said Poppy who had reminded her of the importance of potions every living minute they had spent together. Minerva dropped her head in resignation, she would have to see Albus and explain. Of course that meant another scolding but she would rather he scolded her than ignore her like he had at the end of their discussion. Although Minerva had got a great control over her feelings for Albus, the idea of him not speaking to her was worse than death.

When they entered the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom they found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head. Ro was again reminded forcibly of a large fly perched unwisely on top of an even larger toad. The class was quiet as it entered the room; Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be. "Well, good afternoon!" she said, when finally the whole class had sat down. A few people mumbled "good afternoon" in reply. Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge". One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!" "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her. "There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."

Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order "wands away" had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting. Minerva shoved her wand back inside her robes and pulled out quill, ink and parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once:  
Defense Against the Dark Arts, A Return to Basic Principles "Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your NEWTS year. "You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by the "Course Aims".  
. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.  
. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.  
. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.  
For a couple of minutes the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's three course aims she asked, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class. "I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply, "Yes, Professor Umbridge", or "No, Professor Umbridge". So: has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" "Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room. "Good," said Professor Umbridge. "I should like you to turn to page five and read "Chapter One, Basics for Beginners".

"There will be no need to talk." Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher's desk, observing them all closely with those peachy toad's eyes. Ro turned to page five of her copy of Defensive Magical Theory and started to read. It was desperately dull, quite as bad as listening to Professor Binns. She felt her concentration sliding away from her; she had soon read the same line half a dozen times without taking in more than the first few words. Several silent minutes passed. Next to her, Sally was absent-mindedly turning her quill over and over in her fingers, staring at the same spot on the page. Ro looked right and received a surprise to shake her out of her torpor. Minerva had not even opened her copy of Defensive Magical Theory. She was staring fixedly at Professor Umbridge with her hand in the air. Ro could not remember Minerva ever neglecting to read when instructed to, or indeed resisting the temptation to open any book that came under her nose. She looked at her enquiringly, but she merely shook her head slightly to indicate that she was not about to answer questions, and continued to stare at Professor Umbridge, who was looking just as resolutely in another direction.

After several more minutes had passed, however, Ro was not the only one watching Minerva. The chapter they had been instructed to read was so tedious that more and more people were choosing to watch Minerva's mute attempt to catch Professor Umbridge's eye rather than struggle on with "Basics for Beginners". When more than half the class was staring at Minerva rather than at their books, Professor Umbridge seemed to decide that she could ignore the situation no longer. "Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked Minerva, as though she had only just noticed her. "Not about the chapter, no," said Minerva. "Well, we're reading just now," said Professor Umbridge, showing her small pointed teeth. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class." "I've got a query about your course aims," said Minerva. Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. "And your name is?" "Minerva McGonagall," said Minerva. "Well, Miss McGonagall, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully" said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness. "Well, I don't," said Minerva bluntly. There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."

There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the blackboard. "Using defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss McGonagall. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?" "We're not going to use magic?" Ro exclaimed loudly. "Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Miss-?" "Hooch," said Ro, thrusting her hand into the air. Professor Umbridge, smiling still more widely, turned her back on her. Poppy and Minerva immediately raised their hands too. Professor Umbridge's peachy eyes lingered on Minerva for a moment before she addressed her. "Yes, Miss McGonagall? You wanted to ask something else?" "Yes," said Minerva. "Surely the whole point of Defense against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?" "Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss McGonagall?" asked Professor Umbridge, in her falsely sweet voice. "No, but -" "Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the "whole point" of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way-" "What use is that?" said Minerva loudly. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a -" "Hand, Miss McGonagall!" sang Professor Umbridge.

Minerva thrust her fist in the air. Again, Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from her, but now several other people had their hands up, too. "And your name is?" Professor Umbridge said to Terry. "Terry Boots." "Well, Mr. Boots?" "Well, it's like Minerva said, isn't it?" said Terry. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free." "I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Terry, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?" "No, but -" Professor Umbridge talked over him. "I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," she said, an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed - not to mention," she gave a nasty little laugh, "other classes were worse." "If you mean Professor Dumbledore," piped up Terry angrily, "he is, was and always will be the best we ever -" "Hand, Mr. Boots! As I was saying - you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day -"

"No we haven't," Poppy said, "we just -" "Your hand is not up, Miss-" "Pomfrey" said Poppy. "Yes, Miss. Pomfrey" completed Umbridge. Poppy put up her hand. Professor Umbridge turned away from her. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?" she added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot up. "Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense against the Dark Arts NEWTS? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and things?" "As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions," said Professor Umbridge dismissively. "Without ever practicing them beforehand?" said Parvati incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?" "I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough -" "And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" said Minerva loudly, her fist in the air again.

Professor Umbridge looked up. "This is school, Miss McGonagall, not the real world," she said softly. "So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting for us out there?" There is nothing waiting out there, Miss McGonagall." "Oh, yeah?" said Minerva. Her temper, which seemed to have been bubbling just beneath the surface all day, was reaching boiling point. "Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" enquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice. "Hmm, let's think:" said Minerva in a mock thoughtful voice. "Maybe: the war is invisible to students isn't it?" Ro gasped. Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She was staring at Minerva with a grimly satisfied expression on her face. Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss McGonagall." The classroom was silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Umbridge or Minerva. "Now, let me make a few things quite plain."

Professor Umbridge stood up and leaned towards them, her stubby-fingered hands splayed on her desk. "You have been too involved in a war some people would have you believe is ours." "It is ours," said Minerva angrily, "Miss-McGonagall-you-have-already-lost-your-house- ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself, " said Professor Umbridge in one breath without looking at her. "As I was saying, you have been too involved in pursuing information about a war some people would have you believe is ours. This is a lie."It is NOT a lie!" said Minerva. "Detention, Miss McGonagall!" said Professor Umbridge triumphantly. Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any wizarding war. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about the war, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, "Basics for Beginners"."

Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk. Minerva, however, stood up. Everyone was staring at her; Terry looked half-scared, half-fascinated. "Minerva, no!" Poppy whispered in a warning voice, tugging at her sleeve, but Minerva jerked her arm out of her reach. "So, according to you, the muggle war that has been raging on for these many years is only that? A muggle war?" Minerva asked, her voice shaking. There was a collective intake of breath from the class, for none of them, apart from Ro, Sally and Poppy, had ever heard Minerva talk about the war openly. They stared avidly from Minerva to Professor Umbridge, who had raised her eyes and was staring at her without a trace of a fake smile on her face. "The length of the muggle war is tragic but it still remains a muggle war," she said coldly. "It is not. It is a wizarding war, our war," said Minerva. She could feel herself shaking. She had hardly spoken to anyone about this, least of all thirty eagerly listening classmates. "You know it as do I." Professor Umbridge's face was quite blank. For a moment, Minerva thought she was going to scream at her. Then she said, in her softest, most sweetly girlish voice, "Come here, Miss McGonagall, dear."

Minerva flinched at being called dear by her. She kicked his chair aside, strode around Ro, Sally and Poppy and up to the teacher's desk. She could feel the rest of the class holding its breath. She felt so angry she did not care what happened next. Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink and started scribbling, hunched over so that Minerva could not see what she was writing. Nobody spoke. After a minute or so she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that she could not open it. "Take this to Professor Dumbledore, dear," said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to her. She took it from her without saying a word, turned on her heel and left the room, not even looking back at Ro, Sally, Jeff, Terry and Poppy, slamming the classroom door shut behind her. She walked very fast along the corridor, the note to Dumbledore clutched tight in her hand, and turning a corner walked slap into Peeves the poltergeist, a wide-mouthed little man floating on his back in midair, juggling several inkwells. "Why it's a student!" cackled Peeves, allowing two of the inkwells to fall to the ground where they smashed and spattered the walls with ink; Minerva jumped backwards out of the way with a snarl. "Get out of it, Peeves."

Minerva walked briskly to Dumbledore's office and knocked. The door opened up to her revealing Albus looking grim and slightly harassed. "Why aren't you in class Minerva?" he asked looking at her quizzically. "I've been sent to see you," said Minerva stiffly. "Sent? What do you mean, sent?" She held out the note from Professor Umbridge. Professor Dumbledore took it from her, frowning, slit it open with a tap of his wand, stretched it out and began to read. His eyes zoomed from side to side behind their half moon spectacles as he read what Umbridge had written, and with each line they became narrower. "Come in here, tabby." He followed her inside into his study. The door closed automatically behind him. "Well?" said Albus, rounding on her. "Is this true?" "Is what true?" Minerva asked, rather more aggressively than she had intended. "Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?" "Yes," said Minerva. "You called her a liar?" "Yes." "You told her that the war raging is a wizarding war?""Yes." Albus sat down behind his desk, watching Minerva closely. Then he said, "Have a chocolate frog, tabby." "Have - what?" "Have a chocolate," he repeated impatiently, indicating one lying on top of one of the piles of papers on his desk. "And sit down."

She sank into her usual chair opposite him and helped herself to the chocolate frog offered, feeling just confused. Albus set down Professor Umbridge's note and looked very seriously at Minerva. "Minerva, you need to be careful." Minerva swallowed her mouthful of chocolate and stared at him. His tone of voice was not at all what he was used to; it was not soft and caring but brisk, crisp and stern; it was low and anxious and somehow even more authoritative than usual. "Misbehavior in Dolores Umbridge's class could cost you much more than house points and a detention Minerva." "What do you -?" "Minerva, use your common sense," snapped Albus, with an abrupt removal completely from his usual manner. "You know where she comes from, you must know to whom she is reporting." The bell rang for the end of the lesson. Overhead and all around came the elephantine sounds of hundreds of students on the move. "It says here she's given you detention every evening this week, starting tomorrow," Albus said, looking down at Umbridge's note again. "Every evening this week!" Minerva repeated, horrified. "I am sorry tabby" he replied returning to his previous manner and looking very worn out all of a sudden "I am really helpless. I am already having a hard time tabby, if you get punished due to me it is all I could do to keep myself from openly revolting."

Minerva dropped her head understanding the depths of his words. "She is your teacher and has every right to give you detention. You will go to her room at five o'clock tomorrow for the first one. Just remember: tread carefully around Dolores Umbridge." "But I was telling the truth!" said Minerva meekly. "The war is ours, you are doing the right thing-""For heaven's sake, tabby!" said Albus, straightening his glasses sounding exasperated "not everyone in the world goes about worshiping me like you think. Many people do not believe me at the moment, the minister of magic included. Your open show of affection for me could land you in trouble my dear, and if it does, I-"he sighed not willing to think what he would do. Minerva peeked at him not lifting her head yet, but the amount of emotions in his words had taken her breath away. Nodding mutely she left not speaking another word.

Dinner in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant experience for Minerva. The news about her shouting match with Umbridge had travelled exceptionally fast even by Hogwarts' standards. She heard whispers all around her as she sat eating between Ro, Sally and Poppy. Minerva had not spoken to anyone at all after her meeting with Albus and as the day was commencing, it was getting harder for her friends to keep their patience. Deciding suddenly that she did not want Minerva to lapse into one of her states like the second year Ro cleared her throat and addressed her stubborn friend sternly, "Min, if you are so very effected by your told with Dumbledore, for God's sake speak about it to him, you have been friends for so long and you can't go about hanging your face whenever he says something that is not exactly to your liking." "He did not say anything against my liking Ro, but I never thought me getting punished would affect him so badly. He was so…" "Dumbledore," said Ro Minerva looked up at her friend, "he is always caring for you Min, if you are blind that does not mean he was doing anything different. He was being just Dumbledore, what he usually is. The problem it seems is that you noticed that the first time. So, talk to him and stop brooding.

Minerva made her way to Dumbledore's office once again after dinner. She had a lot of explaining to do- her behavior in class, her dropping potions. She reeled at the thought, but having made up her mind tapped tentatively on the door. "Come in tabby" ,came a call from the other side of the door. Startled, Minerva pushed open the door to find Albus reclining in his couch. "How did you-" "Only you tap that way tabby- two knocks pause two knocks and over that I knew Ro would push some sense into your head over dinner" he chuckled. Minerva turned a deep shade of crimson- he had noticed how she knocked, although she knew it was nothing she could not stop herself from feeling elated. Smiling at him, she took her usual seat. "Albus, I am really sorry, for two reasons, first giving up potions, I should have known better than running away and I really feel ashamed when I think of it now, second for my behavior in the class which although I still think she deserved, I did not want to cause you trouble. I will really try to keep out of her way and out of trouble but Albus, I will not be able to tolerate if she insults you, in which case I am asking your forgiveness from beforehand for being rash and illogical." Having addressed her whole speech at his shoes, she peeked at him once more.

Albus was looking at her a smile gracing his lips, his eyes though were misty. "Tabby, I really-"he gulped once as though to swallow back his tears "-I really appreciate your respect for me and I will understand if you are unable to keep your temper in certain circumstances. But you must exercise caution otherwise and both your apologies are accepted." He then chuckled once before adding, "Do you find my shoes that very interesting my dear?" Minerva looked up at him at once to see him grinning impishly. Shaking her head she smiled back. She felt much better now that she had talked to him and felt she could maintain her temper better as well. "Albus, I also wanted to ask you something. You know very well that the war is real and very close to home." He nodded peering at her looking interested. So, she continued, "I was thinking about our lesson plans in DADA. There is no space for practical defensive magic. With your permission I would like to reform our earlier study group and train them in more practical defense than just reading books." She looked at him expectantly.

Albus seemed immersed in thoughts. After one whole minute he looked up at her. "Tabby, for now I do not have any problem with your reforming the study group although I do not know how long you will be able to continue. I wish I had more students like you in my other years so that I did not have to worry about their safety either. Tabby, could you allow a few juniors as well as seniors in your group on my request? Everyone deserves a chance at protecting themselves, at least learning to as long as they have the chance." Minerva smiled widely at him "What would I not do for you Albus," she said it dramatically but in her heart she knew it was the biggest truth she had told him ever. He smiled back at her "Then I will thank you in advance. Goodnight tabby." Minerva's smile never faltered as she got up and left his office now feeling better than ever after having made her apologies and finding solutions to problems that had been plaguing her.

Minerva made her way to Umbridge's office feeling much more relaxed. When she entered the rooms there were several vases full of dried flowers, each one residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large Technicolor kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. These were so foul that Minerva stared at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke again. "Good evening, Miss McGonagall." Minerva started and looked around. She had not noticed her at first because she was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her. "Evening, Professor Umbridge," Minerva said stiffly. Their detention began, Umbridge told her to polish every visible ornament in her room without magic. Minerva set to work controlling her urge to smile; the toad did not know that she was an expert at wand less magic. Rather, her wand less magic was almost as good as her wand based magic if not better. Soon to the surprise of Umbridge, Minerva had polished everything. Not having any new excuse to torment her she let her return to the dormitory.

Her friends it seemed had not been expecting her so early as they looked up startled as she entered. Placing her bag on the floor, Minerva sank into a comfortable chair and spoke after a small sigh. "I have decided to reform our study group, this time for practical DADA. What do you think? And well, inform anyone you think is trustworthy and tell them to feel free to join us." Minerva's idea about the study group had found more support than she had even dreamed of. When she had entered the Quidditch stadium where Ro had suggested they meet so as not to attract attention, she had been startled to see almost the whole school there from the juniors to the seniors minus most of the Slytherins. Her jaw dropped in amazement. "Everyone seems to have heard about your dueling sessions with Dumbledore though nothing more" Ro informed her in a whisper. "Also, most of them know about the confrontation between you and Lockhart" Poppy informed her. Nodding Minerva turned to the group she had formed. She sighed heavily; it was almost going to be like teaching a class.

The term seemed to fly by after that. Minerva had avoided any further confrontation with Umbridge as she had promised Albus. The study group had been scheduled to meet thrice every week for each class. It had been a hard task for Minerva to accommodate teaching time for so many classes in her schedule. She had even requested the seventh years to teach each other but they had been very adamant. So, giving in at last Minerva let everyone know that they would meet year wise and practice DADA in accordance to the course. Minerva had managed to keep only the Thursday nights free which she had adamantly refused to give to any class as it was a day when she and Albus had their ritual of chess matches. All in all the term was a very busy one even for Minerva's taste. Studying for herself teaching almost the whole school, coping with Umbridge she was surprised she was still sane. Albus had been more than happy with her study group, elated actually. "I can at last rest in peace that my students are safe" he had said one night while playing chess. Minerva shook her head at the one man who had kept her sane through all this turmoil smiling.

It was almost mid February when trouble broke out. Minerva had been having her astronomy classes with her friends when they heard a commotion from the grounds. Taking her eyes off her telescope, Ro glanced at the grounds once and blanched at once. Minerva felt her arm being gripped tightly by Ro and abandoned her telescope to look at her. "Look Min, look at the ground, headmaster and Dumbledore…" she squeaked out struggling for her breath. Wasting not another second Minerva trained her telescope on the grounds below the tower. Dippet and Dumbledore were surrounded by about twenty men, Umbridge at their head. Dippet was holding out his wand but Dumbledore seemed to have left his own wand behind. The men surrounding them started firing curses at the two of them; Dippet tried to dodge and was soon hit by two stunning spells at a time, he slumped to the ground unconscious, his wand flying from his hand. Minerva let out an audible gasp. Albus was now standing without a wand defending himself and the unconscious headmaster from the flying curses.

The astronomy teacher it seemed had joined their vigil at the window and was almost screaming with indignation. Minerva grasped the arms of her friends and pulled them away from the window. "Ro," she started, "what did Olivander say about your wand? Is it yielding to other witches and wizards?" seeing her nod she continued "Now, I want you to concentrate fully on your wand and think how you want it to work for me in the duel. I am joining Dumbledore down there he obviously needs help and a wand. I will give mine to him, but I will need yours Ro" she said to her staring friends. Ro nodded meekly and closed her eyes in concentration. Minerva started firing instructions to the rest of her friends. "You, Poppy and Sally, aim at Dumbledore and cast a shield each encircling him. When I fire red sparks from my wand, only then let them drop, clear?" the two girls nodded at once and went to the window again pulling out their wands. Minerva turned to the boys now. "Jeff you and Terry steady me when I jump from the tower" she turned from them as Ro pulled at her sleeve. Handing Minerva her own wand, Ro looked at her friend with concern, "I asked my wand to work for you at its best even better than what it does for me Min. I hope you will be safe."

Minerva nodded mutely and made for the window followed by Jeff and Terry who were looking white as ghosts but very determined. Sighing, Minerva heaved herself onto the window sill and nodding at her friends jumped. "_Arestro momento" _Jeff and Terry shouted together. Minerva felt her fall break and she landed softly on the grass. Looking up she surveyed the ground. The people on the attack were still firing curses but Dumbledore was enclosed in a cocoon of white light from the shields cast by Sally and Poppy. Never more thankful for her knowledge of muggle gymnastics, Minerva steadied herself before she started to cartwheel in Albus's direction. Within seconds she was behind him. Standing upright she stood back to back with him at once and felt him jump. "Albus, it's me" she called to him over the roaring of the curses that bounded off the shields now encasing both of them. "MINERVA WHAT THE DEVIL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING HERE!" he shouted at the top of his voice. Minerva blanched at his tone but kept her cool, "Helping you of course, here take this" she said thrusting her wand at him, "It will work fine for you I think, its mine. I have Ro's wand. When I give the signal my friends will drop this shield, I will take the headmaster to safety and return later to help you" she said. "How will you take him? The castle is protected from apparition, forgot?" his voice was still snappish. "I have a plan, and please don't snap at me Albus, if you had not left your wand behind, these men would have been down by now and I would not have needed to intervene. Now, on the count of three" she cautioned him and pointed her wand at the sky. Swallowing the bile rising in her throat she cried "_Nox"_ a jet of red light sprang from the tip of Ro's wand. The shields went down at once and the fight began.

Minerva started towards the unconscious headmaster firing curses and conjuring shields as the situation called. When she reached him she bent over him and found blood oozing from his mouth. Making her decision she called, "faux" in a blast of fire the phoenix appeared in front of her. Minerva had grown very close to the bird in the past years and the idea had made itself clear in her head as soon as she had thought of a way for getaway. "Faux, we need to go to St. Mugos immediately, will you take us please?" she asked not knowing what to expect. Faux turned round and to her amazement Minerva found the tail feathers of the phoenix glowing. Bending low over Dippet, she grabbed him with one hand and faux's tail in her other hand. One moment she felt a warmth surge through her and the next she was standing in the reception of St. Mugos. Gathering herself together she walked straight over to the help desk levitating the unconscious headmaster behind her. One look at who she was escorting and the healers set to work faster than she had ever seen humans react.

After seeing to it that the headmaster was safe, she turned to faux again. At once the tail feathers started glowing. Throwing a last look at Dippet, she grabbed them. Within moments she was standing in exactly the same spot from where she had left. Quickly she surveyed the battle field. The toad it seemed had fled; Albus was still fighting with her wand which seemed to be working for him as good as it did for her. Suddenly she saw something that made her heart stop. One man, who had been sent flying back by Albus, got to his feet and fired a jet of green light at him. Minerva did not need to hear the incantations to know the spell it was; it was the worst unforgivable and it was aimed at Albus. Forgetting everything else she ran towards him as he was standing with his back to the curse. She grabbed him by the shoulders, turning him; but her momentum had been too much and the two of them toppled over rolling off on the ground. Quick as a lightning Minerva cast a stunner at the attacker as soon as they had stopped rolling and pulled up a shield with her hand.

When she glanced down she was surprised at how close to Albus she was lying. He was staring at her looking aghast. "A killing curse" she explained shortly getting up and helping him up as well. The two of them stood back to back once more, Albus having taken his inspiration from Minerva had a shield drawn in his wand free hand as well. Within minutes the remaining men were lying either unconscious or dead on the ground. The two of them pulled down their shields as Ro, Poppy, Sally, Jeff and Terry came rushing down the ground and embraced them both forgetting for a moment and giving up all their inhibitions at Dumbledore being their teacher. They loved him as much as they loved their friend and could not have been more thankful. "Ouch!" the cry left Minerva's mouth before she could stop it. Albus had grabbed her hand and turned her round roughly which had made her head reel. Not caring about her cry Albus looked like he could have burst with the rage boiling within him.

"Into my office" he ordered in a low voice but the chill emanating from it was beyond terrifying. Minerva turned and nodded at her friends who understanding went away at once as she started to walk with Albus or rather followed him. Once inside the office Albus did nothing to hold back his temper. "So, just because I left behind my wand you thought it necessary to endanger your life? What if something happened to you, did you even stop to think how I would feel? What did you think you were doing, jumping at me when a killing curse was aimed? You could easily have called. Was it some kind of attempt at showing your prowess at dueling?" he shouted at her.

Minerva felt numb as the last of the words slipped from his tongue. She had just been worried for him and had not even given a thought as to what it might do to her at that moment. That time she had only one thing in mind, if one person was to come back alive, it must be him. Now hearing those harsh words from him, tears sprang to her eyes which she blinked back furiously. "I did not care about my life at that moment nor was I in the condition to think properly at that time. I jumped to move you from the killing curse not to take it myself" she replied speaking in a dull monotone. Not looking up at her professor once. Albus stepped forward suddenly and embraced her "I am sorry my dear tabby, I am very very sorry. I was just shaken at the great risk your life had been in, I did not even think before I spoke, please forgive me, please" he crooned to her holding her tightly to himself. Forgetting the chill that had descended on her moments back, Minerva raised her hands and encircled Albus in them, returning his embrace in full measure. It could not have mattered less what he said; he was safe and it was all she cared about. Moments later she felt his hold on her loosen and she reluctantly let her hands drop to her sides. Nodding silently to him she made her way back to her dormitory not taking her eyes off his all the while till she was out of the door.

When Minerva reached the dormitory, she was engulfed at once in a bone crushing embrace by her friends. Jeff and Terry were present in the Gryffindor common room as well which was filled with students. When Minerva was released by her friends who had inspected her thoroughly for any sign of damage, she was stunned to find all her students there. The news it seemed had flown through the school. Everyone took their turn at expressing their concern and it was nearly two o'clock when they left. Drooping with exhaustion Minerva slumped onto her bed and was asleep at once still fully dressed. Albus sat staring at the fire in his room. The white hot terror that had raced through him when he had found her fighting with him was hard to get rid of. The evening came back to his mind again and again, how she had jumped to his help, how he had instinctively embraced her when she had been hurt by his words, how she had returned his embrace and held his eyes till she left. Albus, to his dismay found himself reliving the embrace again and again. He banged his fist onto his head in frustration. She was his student and she trusted him so blindly, how could he think of her like that? How could he even let the thought form; he seethed with anger at himself as he slouched on his bed falling asleep as his body gave in to its exhaustion.

The months after the attack flew away in a furry of activities. Umbridge was removed as soon as the attack was revealed; Dumbledore's warning had been removed as well when Dippet had told the minister that Albus being his employee was within his power, not the ministers. Dippet had returned from the hospital, a changed man. He had called over both Albus and Minerva to his office. First he had apologized profusely at his behavior towards Albus from the previous year and then thanked both of them for risking their lives to thank him. Minerva had opened her mouth to tell him that she would have done anything for Albus, but Albus had caught her hand and squeezed it so she had left the office thanking the headmaster for his kind words. Now, as they walked down from the office, Albus looked at Minerva and said, "You do not have to go about telling anyone and everyone about your loyalties to me tabby. The headmaster though benign would not respect the thought that you cared for him only to save me" he chuckled at her furious expression. "I am looking forward to having you back for a calmer year next year" he said as he stood waving to Minerva as she left for the holidays.


End file.
